


Underclaw

by Dragonsire21



Category: Undertale
Genre: Action, Adventure, Combat, Conflict, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship, Gen, General, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, OC, OC characters, Resurrection, Self realization, no ships, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-01 03:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8605504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonsire21/pseuds/Dragonsire21
Summary: When a dragon in search of something falls down Mount Ebbot, he could never have anticipated what he would find. Andromeda Fireclaw learns not only of himself, but more about those that are far different than him. His and the lives of all around him will never be the same in a story of frienship, family and the power of determination vested in them all.





	1. Chapter 1

     Snowflakes fell gracefully through the frigid winter air, landing on the tip of Andromeda’s  nose. The snow beneath his feet crunched loudly under his weight as he walked through a forest covered in white. Something called him to this mountain, its mysterious charms drawing him in like moths to a flame. This strange attraction grew stronger from deep within. The moon was his only guide through the darkness around him, but the leafless branches made it harder to see the path ahead. Despite the intense burning on his scaly skin, he trudged through the deep snow and braved the wind as best he could. He wasn’t on the same trail he had come in on anymore. A tiny pair of footprints had entered the woods on a well-travelled path, and were heading in the same direction as him. He had heard stories and rumors about this mountain from locals in the small town nearby. They didn’t talk highly of it at all. They had even gone as far as to speculate that there were other creatures beneath it, while some refused to speak about it at all. Others called it cursed, or an omen to the people living around it. Somehow, he had a feeling that the townsfolk weren’t just making rumors.

An icicle fell from a branch above him, nearly shattering on the top of his head. He jumped to the side, barely avoiding the chunk of ice and nearly tripping himself into a mound of snow beside him. Andromeda sighed with relief, but there wasn’t any ice above him that could have fallen where this one had. An uneasy feeling had begun to manifest in his gut.  _ This isn’t going to be a fun trip _ , he thought.

The further he walked into these seemingly endless woods, the more sporadic the position of the trees became. His foot caught a felled tree, sending him sprawling face first into a patch of fluffy snow. Someone was running away in the opposite direction as he pulled himself up off the ground. The feeling of aloneness didn’t last very long. With an arrow knocked into his longbow, he combed the woods around him, searching for the runner. The only footsteps he could find were his. No sign of life was in sight as far as his eyes could see. As he lowered his longbow he used his foot to try and cover up the spot he had landed on. Paranoia was beginning to take hold. Up ahead to his right was a sign standing in front of a set of stairs that lead up a steep hillside. As he wiped away ice and snow with his hand, he could read out the words “SCENIC OVERLOOK”, with a bright red arrow pointing in the direction he was heading. Andromeda held onto the railing of the snow-covered steps as he ascended the rocky slope. His feet twisted and turned on every ice patch his boots came into contact with. His breaths became slow and calculated. The top of the steps was his goal, he just needed to continue up without slipping. If he could make it up these, he only needed to climb four more sets.

Snow began to fall as he reached the middle of the third set of steps. Visibility of anything around him began fading fast, soon becoming a solid sheet of white. The moonlight began to fade as the snow fell harder, leaving him nearly blind and stranded almost a quarter of the way up the mountain. The wind rattled the platform above him. Trees whipped and scratched at the wooden handrails, snapping Andromeda’s hands a few times as he would reach up to climb to the next step. The snowfall behind him was too heavy for him to try and gauge how far he’d come up the steps. The treeline that he was watching from above had disappeared behind the snow’s thick veil.

The stairs beneath him creaked loudly as he reached the top of the overlook. The deck had at least six inches of snow covering it, and more was surely to follow in the coming hours. Andromeda finally let go of the railing he had been clutching on his way up and made his way to the other side of the deck. A small set of steps disappeared underneath a sheet of white powder. The only way to discern their position was by a sign crudely nailed to the railing that read “Advanced hiking trail: Proceed at own risk.” He chuckled to himself at the sign’s wording. As he started down the steps, he suddenly spun around as the sound of a child’s footsteps knocked against the frozen wood, almost like the snow he had trudged through wasn’t even there. His eyes darted back and forth looking for the source of the sound. Trees swayed in the wind, making human-like shadows dance in the fog just beyond his line of sight. The wind whistled menacingly through the trees, carrying with them in their wispy grasp small puffs of snow from the branches it passed through. There was no sign of anybody else by him, but how could this person disappear just as quickly as they come?

The trail was proving to be harder than Andromeda could have anticipated. More than once he would have to stop and try to warm himself with basic fire spells, only to freeze again moments after the flame went out. He used his sword as support when the trail got too rocky to climb safely. Eventually he reached a small, flat clearing just below the mountain’s summit that was protected from the snow by a rocky overhang. His body just couldn’t handle the cold any longer. Sitting against the cold rock face beneath the overhang was the greatest feeling he’d had for as long as he could remember. The heavy snowfall showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. The wind wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been down on the overlook, and the moonlight he had been relying on had finally come back.  _ Five minutes, that’s all I need right now. Just five more minutes, _ Andromeda thought to himself as he began drifting into a light sleep.

_ THUMP! _

Andromeda growled in pain after knocking the back of his head off of the rocks behind him as he jerked out of a dead sleep. A patch of snow that was splattered directly above his head dripped down the back of his neck. Someone sprinted up the snowy trail as he got to his feet and grabbed his sword and bow, as if trying to avoid being caught. Children’s laughter echoed from further up the mountain, coming primarily from around a bend that the trail turned into. Snowballs fell around him as Andromeda hastily climbed the trail. More children began laughing as he neared the top of the mountain. The sounds of others talking and yelling began drowning out the joyous laughter, then soon screams of anger and despair followed. Andromeda had stopped climbing and listened carefully. This was no childish game he walking up on, it sounded like a war, a sound he was all too familiar with. All around him swords could be heard clashing against each other. Visceral screams of soldiers charging at one another ready to kill without thought permeated the silence of the summit.

He charged up, sword drawn and ready to defend himself from the unknown attackers. The snow was knee deep, his legs grew tired from trying to lift his legs high enough to power through it. He shouted as loud and hard as he could, ready to charge in and stop the fray when the sounds began to fade into silence. There wasn’t a soul around, not even birds would dare fly this high. When the snow began to let up, the path further ahead lay perfectly flat. The ghostly war had vanished with the snow.

Andromeda followed the sounds of children’s laughter until it lead him to the mouth of a small cavern at the opposite side of the bend he’d heard the sounds of battle from. The darkness inside the cave prohibited him from estimating how far the corridor went. With a small conjured flame in hand, he hunched down and proceeded through the rocky passage with no sense of direction about him whatsoever. The laughter grew fainter as he drew further in. After nearly twenty minutes of navigating in nearly pitch black conditions, his persistence paid off. At the end of the tunnel was the familiar glow of the pale moon he’d been following all night. At first he’d thought he’d run around in a circle, but the leafy vines growing towards him suggested something more interesting. 

What met Andromeda as he exited the small passage was something truly marvelous. Pure white moonlight shined down through a natural skylight in the roof of the cavern. A cone of soft light radiated down into a giant hole in the center of the floor. There wasn’t much room to walk around the sides of it, and any possible footholds look like they could crumble with even the lightest pressure. Something was coiling around his ankles. Before he could look down to check for snakes, his feet violently came out from underneath him. He gasped for breath, fighting the pain in his back from landing on the rocky floor. Vines entangled themselves around his ankles. Slowly he began sliding toward the edge of the abysmal opening. He tried to use his sword as a grip to stop the vines from pulling him, but his sword couldn’t penetrate the earth. He thrust his sword at them desperately, but for each vine he slashed, another would quickly take it’s place. He sheathed his sword and tried to spin himself around to grab at anything he could but the vines had him firmly in place.The struggle was useless. He gripped his sword and his longbow as tight as he could and held them close. He closed his eyes and prepared for the end. With one final yank he was thrown into freefall. He shouted for anyone, anything to help him, but no one came.


	2. Chapter 2

    Hours had passed since Andromeda had been pulled down into the hole. In his groggy state he was greeted to the morning sun shining down upon him from the top of the cave. Everything was sore from the fall, but much to his surprise he was still alive, somehow. His fingers ran over something fleshy, yet pleasant. The more he rubbed it, he began to realize that they were flowers he was laying on top of. The bed of golden flowers were a nice contrast from landing on solid stone, but why were they soft enough to break a fall that should have been fatal? The abysmal darkness of the larger chasm around him was disorientating. He could hardly see the cave’s walls aside from the occasional reflection of light from small streams of water leaking through cracks in the rocks.

This was possibly the most refreshing rest he’s had so far in months. It beat being dead, but he wished he didn’t have to slam the ground to earn it. Part of him wanted to lie there forever, never moving again, never having to give up this beautiful comfort that he had found. Whatever it was he was lying on helped the pain that was pulsing through his upper back. His head still hurt, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with at this point. After a moment of staring off into the distant sky, he got to thinking:  _ Where the fuck did my gear land? _

His hands rummaged furiously through the congealed mass of stems and petals beneath him. Audible cursing flowed freely when he found his bow by jamming his finger on it. It had been lying above his head the entire time. His sword was discovered by the toe of his boot as he shakily rose to his feet. He had difficulty refastening his equipment to him. Keeping his hands still was proving to be more of a challenge all while battling a pounding headache. In his wobbly state he managed to knock the side of his head off of a stone pillar that was standing on the edge of the flower bed. He’d noticed that there were more broken columns all standing around him in a lopsided circle. Some were leaning, others were standing straight up. He ran his hand down one of the pillars, wanting to confirm if they were smooth or not out of personal curiosity. To his satisfaction, they were. Small runic symbols engraved into the base of the pillar caught his attention, but because they weren’t dragon runes in nature, and without knowing what they meant he simply left them alone. After a few more ‘damnit’s and ‘shit’s in between shaky, trembly steps, he set off to try and make some progress in finding his way back to the surface.

The ground crunched beneath his feet as he walked through the darkness of the cave, guided only by a small flame he had summoned in the palm of his right hand. It was surprisingly warm in the caverns. Snow that fell above the flowerbed melted before it could even reach the bottom, which looked more like rain by the time it could get close enough to settle. Andromeda jumped out shock when a water droplet bounced off of his nose and slightly into his eye. For some reason he was worried about staying dry, regardless of the fact that he had sleeping in snow not even a few hours earlier. The water was unusually warm for being in a cave underground, even during the winter.

Andromeda entered a much larger part of the cavern, this time with a ceiling that he couldn’t see at all. A similar bed of golden flowers was glowing in the same way that the sun had illuminated the ones he had landed on not too long before. What caught his attention was the fact that there was no visible light source, yet it was as if an invisible spotlight was showing him something that he needed to see. He stood still for a moment, wondering if he should even enter this straight on or walk around. The floor was dark around the edges, and risking falling into yet another hole wasn’t something he was about to do. Close inspection still couldn’t reveal any hidden dangers in the room beyond what his small palm flame would show. Begrudgingly he shuffled his way along the only visible part of the ground towards the flowers. He kept his hand on his sword, treading lightly as to not attract any unwanted attention should something be watching. Despite what his gut told him, he moved in with great caution. Relying on sound alone, he crept forward until he was standing directly underneath the light.

“Hello? Is uh-- is anyone here,” he called to the vast emptiness around him.

_ Hm, probably not going to get anywhere doing that I presume. _ He could feel the ground beneath him moving as he stood still.

“Is it really just me down here? Any help would be greatly appreciated,” he called again, this time just to hear himself echo off of the cavern’s walls.

“If anyone’s out there, give me a si--”

“Howdy!” A tiny, high-pitched voice called back from beneath him.

_ What the…? Was that coming from… the flowers? _

As Andromeda looked down, he was met with the tiny, beady eyes of a small flower standing higher than the rest. It had a face that anyone would call adorable, but something about this little plant made him extremely uneasy. He stared for a moment at the smiling creature protruding from the soil before asking, “was… was that just you a second ago?”

The flower immediately perked up and said, “Yep, it’s me, Flowey! Flowey the Flower! Golly, you must be lost down here, all alone.”

Andromeda stepped back cautiously, unsure of what to tell the flower.

“You-- how did you know I was alone?”

Flowey turned himself upside down and said with joyous overtones, “Well I didn’t see anyone with you, did I? You’re not with the human, are you?”

Andromeda’s eyes lit up, “the human? What human?”

“So that’s a no. It doesn’t matter, you’ll find them, probably! Speaking of humans,” Flowey squinted his eyes in a mockingly observative expression, “you don’t look so human yourself.”

Andromeda wasn’t sure whether or not he was trying to joke with him, or if he was legitimately making fun of him. Of course even a  _ flower _ would discriminate against a dragon, it’s nothing he isn’t used to by now.

“Well aren’t you perceptive. Let me guess, dragons aren’t highly looked upon down here, are they?”

Even finishing the question began to make his blood boil.

Flowey replied semi-defensively, “what’s that supposed to mean? We don’t have many down here as it is!”

Not wanting to drag the issue further, he just waved off Flowey’s response as if to say, “whatever, it doesn’t even matter.” 

“Well how did you end up down here in the first place?” Flowey asked, trying to change the subject to something less controversial.

Andromeda’s eyes focused sharply on Flowey’s tiny face. Somehow Flowey must have known, there was no way he couldn’t… could he? But even if he, by some strange twist were wrong, he wouldn’t want to leave a bad first impression.

“Ever been  _ dragged _ into a bad situation, Flowey?”

Flowey looked puzzled, replying with, “Well sure, we all have, haven’t we? What does that have to do with this though, you came here on your own, right?”

_ No, he has to know, there’s no way he can’t know what happened… _

“There is a reason I’m here, yes, but I’m not sure if I’m at the liberty of discussing it right now. It’s nothing against you, really, I’d just rather keep that to myself until the time comes that I can talk about it,” Andromeda explained, trying to mask the suspicion in his voice with a faux conversational tone.

“Is it really that big of a deal?” Flowey asked, annoyed.

Andromeda only returned with a silent, suspecting glance. Why would he need to explain what Flowey probably already knows?

Flowey’s annoyed look grew bolder, “What? What’s your problem, was it something I said?”

“Just forget it, I’m probably just jumping to conclusions,” Andromeda let out a deep sigh, “So can you tell me at least how to get out of here? I’d rather not have to feel my way out and slam into everything on the way up.”

Flowey was hesitant to tell him anything. He only stared and grinned, his tiny, beady eyes trying to project happiness onto him.

“I’ll be right back,” Flowey exclaimed before disappearing into the soil.

Once again, he was alone in an unfamiliar place. Why not start getting used to it now? Flowey did say something about a human that had fallen before him, though. If the human was still alive somewhere, he figured that he could work with them to try and find a way to the surface again. He only hoped that the human wouldn’t turn on him in the event that they had seen his true form… unless they didn’t have to.

Flowey popped up from the soil once again, “I’m ba-- hey, where’d he go?”

Andromeda wasn’t about to blow any chance he had of making it to the surface. He watched Flowey look around in confusion, searching for Andromeda and failing. He kept himself concealed behind the corner of the corridor he had come through earlier, making no sounds or sudden movements to ensure secrecy. Disguises were a very tricky thing for him to do. They require a lot of focus and energy to keep up, far more than traditional shape-shifters and changelings. When the spell becomes too exhausting, it can cause the user to change back at unexpected times, something that has happened to Andromeda multiple times in past times he had disguised himself. Risks aside, it was still worth a shot if it will save him the trouble in the end.

He could still hear Flowey calling out to him from around the corner as he began to meditate on the form of a human figure. He was out of Flowey’s view for now, and he knew he didn’t have much time to make this work. As he closed his eyes, a dark-haired man in his early twenties came into his mind. The young man’s black hair ran down just below his shoulders, contrasting his skin’s light golden complexion. In his right hand was a sword similar to his, and in his left a small flame leaving trails of faint orange light as it revolved around the outer contours of his hand. Andromeda had always admired knights of good stature. His admiration for seasoned warriors who could move swiftly in even the heaviest of armor sets was his greatest influence for his disguises. As more of the human in his mind revealed itself to him, he could feel his body changing with the imagery. A vision of his new form standing on a cliff overlooking a setting sun slowly seeped into his conscious. He kept a golden bow on his back and a smaller sword at his side as he stood as if in a silent salute to the great ball of fire in the sky. The wind blew his hair over his shoulders and made the cape attached to the back of the man’s armor wave proudly like a banner in the air. His focus shifted to this human in a library, reaching to the top of the bookshelf to grab a spell tome. He scanned the pages of the ancient tome, reading through its contents while practicing with hand motions in the air. Ironically enough, the book was about transformation and shapeshifting.

His disguise was nearing completion, no part of his body felt the same to him anymore. He could feel himself beginning to shrink to proportions that were not his own. His height had shortened significantly. Surprisingly enough he’d remembered to shrink his clothes, unlike the last time when they had fallen completely off by mistake. He caught a glimpse of himself in a puddle of water in the middle of the corridor. It wasn’t often that he found himself playing the role of a human, and he was never comfortable with the idea of it to begin with, but he couldn’t help but admire his new look. Thankfully nobody else was around to notice him winking at himself through a puddle.

Flowey popped up from the ground once again to find that he was completely alone. “Where did that guy go? He didn’t just leave me here by myse-- “

His eye had caught someone new standing in the doorway. He was a young man with a longsword at his side and one arm slung through a longbow that hung lazily off of his back. He tossed his head and parted his hair from the right side of his face. Without missing a beat, he replied, “guess you’re not alone anymore, huh?”

Flowey stared with disbelief at this new human’s sudden arrival. He looked vaguely like someone he had spoken to earlier.

“Wha-- where’d the dragon go? And why are you dressed like him,” Flowey asked.

The young man smiled, “I didn’t see any dragons around here.” He playfully searched for imaginary dragons flying around the room, “perhaps you were just lost in thought. I would have said something similar about encountering a talking flower.”

Anger filled Flowey’s tiny body, “HOW CAN YOU THINK I’M NOT REAL?”

“That’s arguable, I mean how often do you encounter talking flowers in the wild?”

Flowey and the false human argued back and forth for nearly ten minutes. Flowey, still suspicious that Andromeda was in fact right in front of him, kept pressing on about where he went and how he could just disappear so fast. Andromeda fought to keep up with the questioning, but his stockpile of excuses was depleting at an alarming rate. This wasn’t a secret Flowey could be trusted with. Five more minutes of arguing later, Flowey’s patience had run out.

His face contorted into a jack-o-lantern expression, pure hatred flowing through him. He looked Andromeda in the eye, and with a twisted grin said, “you think you know how things work down here, don’t you, human? You may not be the lizard I was talking to earlier, but it doesn’t matter, only an  _ idiot _ would think that they stood a chance here.”

Andromeda only chuckled, unphased by Flowey’s anger. He replied without any care for Flowey’s angry statement, “you obviously haven’t gotten a grip then, I guess. You remind me of a lot of people, pretty on the outside, absolutely disgusting on the inside. Personally I think it’s funny how I’m getting yelled at by a--”

A razor sharp seed pod flew through the air towards Andromeda’s face, nearly hitting him in the eye. He had barely any time to react, and luckily wasn’t blinded by it.

“You little fuck…”

“DOWN HERE IT’S KILL OR BE KILLED!”

Six more small pods floated up from the flowers beneath Flowey. After a quick spin in the air, their pointed bottoms became fixated on Andromeda’s chest, ready to punch holes through him. In response, Andromeda raised his bow and readied an arrow, aiming straight for Flowey’s face. The two stared each other down intently, each waiting for the other to make a move first. Andromeda had no intention of missing, but he couldn’t see the pods very well in his peripheral vision. His fingers began to slowly release the draw, waiting for any moment to let loose the arrow into the flower ahead of him.

“It’s hilarious isn’t it,” Andromeda’s teeth clenched tighter, “hope you’re faster than my arrow will be.”

Flowey shouted back with unbridled fury, “YEAH, LET’S SEE HOW WELL YOU CAN HIT A TINY FLOW--”, a warning arrow embedded itself into the earth directly in front of his face, the shaft positioned perfectly between his eyes at an upward angle.

“You wanna try that shit again,” Andromeda replied coldly.

Flowey quickly disappeared into the soil, dropping the seeds out of the air. Andromeda retrieved his arrow and paused briefly over the flowerbed, wondering if Flowey was going to come back and fight him again. In the distance he could hear someone humming. He didn’t recognize the tune, but he found the gentle tone of her voice soothing.

“Oh! Another fallen child,” a woman’s voice asked from the darkened corridor ahead.

Andromeda looked up and waited for the owner of the mysteriously soothing voice to appear from the shadows. His eyes widened when he realized that it wasn’t in fact a human that was now before him, but a female monster with goat-like facial features. She bore a strange insignia on her purple robe that he hadn’t seen before.

“I uh-- well this is uh-- awkward,” he couldn’t even put together a sentence properly. Was he supposed to greet her somehow, or continue to stare at her strange appearance?

The monster made her way over to Andromeda, who was standing in the open with a clueless expression on his face that clearly said, “I’m extremely lost here, what’s happening?” She eyed him over, possibly looking for any visible wounds or injuries. Her sweet voice and loving demeanour brought back memories of his own family before the great war.

“Are you injured at all? I thought I’d heard a commotion around here somewhere,” the monster asked kindly.

Andromeda pretended to check himself over, not entirely sure why he even needed to. After a very brief search for nonexistent injuries, he gave a thumbs up and a smile. The monster giggled at his gesture.

“Come, it isn’t safe to stay here, my child. I can take you someplace safer,” the monster beckoned.

Andromeda willingly obliged. “I’m going wherever you’re heading. Just don’t mind the uh--  _ equipment _ .” 

The monster had noticed the sword and bow, and Andromeda could tell that she wasn’t very comfortable with the sight of them. He could understand why, but somehow he had a feeling there was a deeper reason than his assumption. As the two of them left the cavern for the last time, Andromeda shot a glance over his shoulder. Flowey stood alone, glaring angrily at him before disappearing into the mess of flowers again. He could only hope that he wouldn’t run into that plant again, but his gut told him that wouldn’t be the case.

The walk through the caverns was a pleasant one. Andromeda had learned much about this new world that monsters had called “underground”, and that there was in fact another human down there. When asked about the other fallen human, the monster shied away from the questions and tried to divert the conversation to something else. There was something she was hiding, but it wasn’t Andromeda’s place to ask about it… yet. The monster had explained something about losing a child before. She would briefly mention a second one, but the identity of the second child was never brought to light, probably because it was painful to talk about. Strangely enough, she did give a lot more details on her first child, even going as far as to give his name: Asriel.

“Asriel, huh? That’s an interesting name, very classy in my book,” Andromeda complimented.

“It came from, and who would think, a combination of his father’s name and mine”, the monster replied with a hearty laugh.

Wait, shit, he didn’t even know her name! Why did it take so long for him to ask her about it?

“Speaking of names, I don’t believe I’d ever caught what yours was,” he said, cringing at his delivery of the question.

“Oh, right, I’m sorry I hadn’t asked yours before either. I am Toriel. What is your name, again?”

He hadn’t thought this far ahead. He needed something that was easy to remember and sounded believable. While panicking silently, the only thing that escaped him was, “Andrew.” Clever.

“Andrew? What a lovely name!”

_ Phew, I can’t believe she bought that. Next time a little more foresight would be nice. _

Toriel and Andromeda (now known as Andrew, even though he hates the name) arrived at a large set of stone doors atop a small set of stairs. Toriel ascended before Andromeda could get the chance to ask where they were.

“My child, are you good at puzzles,” Toriel asked, standing in front of six pressure plates set into the floor.

With a sly grin, Andromeda replied, “I mean I did a crossword one time and fell asleep on top of it, if that counts.”

Toriel chuckled, then walked over four of the six plates. The entire cave shook as the giant doors began to slide apart. Dust fell in front of the entryway as pieces of the cave ceiling cracked and fell onto the weathered brick floor. Andromeda struggled to stay on his feet and fought against the violent quaking ground, nearly falling backwards and hitting his head on a rock.

“Toriel, what was that,” he replied in horror.

“I should have warned you, the doors are heavy and tend to do that when they haven’t been opened in a while. You’re still standing, aren’t you?”

He shouldn’t have been standing, but she wasn’t wrong. He followed her up the steps and through the doorway into the next corridor. He wondered why all of the bricks this place was built with were a strange hue of violet. The walls were extremely weathered and vines covered most of them. The floor was deeply cracked and just as weathered as the walls were. He nearly went tumbling when his foot caught a pothole in the floor. Two small streams running beneath small bridges divided the corridor. He wondered what the levers on the wall did as they passed over the second footbridge, but didn’t bother to ask for fear that it would do something worse that cause an earthquake.

“Someone has been through here before I take it, judging by the lack of puzzles you mentioned earlier,” Andromeda observed.

For a moment Toriel became tense. Her voice began to shake as she explained that she hadn’t reset the puzzles yet, and made a joke about her being forgetful. Her voice sounded like she was on the verge of tears. After pulling herself together she hastily beckoned him along while making quick, worried glances at the mechanisms. A small frog-like monster looked up at Andromeda as he followed closely behind Toriel. She wasn’t talking much anymore, and she began to pick up her pace. The smaller had a worried look on it’s face as Toriel passed. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with her, but he wasn’t sure how to ask.

Toriel had stopped on a spike covered bridge that closed the gap between the hallways. Her expression became more distressed with each stop they made through the ruins. Their conversations had been relatively light-hearted and jovial before, and now the mood was quickly becoming more somber. Toriel had grown almost hollow, her happiness sapped by whatever it was she could be hiding.

“Please hold my hand, my child, and I will guide you across,” Toriel instructed, holding her hand behind her and waiting for Andromeda’s.

The spikes were soft to the touch.

Andromeda’s eyebrow raised, “uh, are you sure? These don’t look too lethal.”

His observation was met with silence.

“You alright, Toriel? You’ve really pulled a 180 from when I’d just first met you,” Andromeda asked.

“I’m alright my--”, she began to whimper, “my chil-- Andrew. I’ll be okay,” she finished while fighting back tears.

Andromeda was never good with emotional support. He felt that nothing he could say or do would help the situation, and arguing would probably just piss her off. Still, it couldn’t be too hard to try and just give in a little bit, even if he felt weird about it. He placed his hand in hers, smiling warmly while hiding his discomfort. He felt his decision was a good one when she looked back with a smile of her own. Together they made their way through the arrangement of false spikes protruding from the wooden bridge. Toriel would sniffle a few times, but he felt that she was in a better place than she was a few minutes ago. She released his hand when they got across the bridge, satisfied for the time being.

Nearly ten minutes had passed since leaving the bridge. The conversation was dull, with only the occasional smalltalk happening at semi-random intervals just to ward off the awkward silence. Andromeda had so many questions he wanted to ask, especially about the other fallen human. From time to time he would try to ask, but he would either be answered with something unrelated to the question or with a knowing silence.

“I must go prepare some things, my child. Please don’t wander far,” Toriel instructed before disappearing down a side corridor.

Now that he was alone, Andromeda decided to wander further ahead and see where the rest of the hallway went. Toriel wasn’t around to receive his half-assed emotional support, and his curiosity was beginning to grow on him.

_ Ribbit _ , Andromeda heard as he entered the room. A frog monster similar to the one he had seen earlier sat by itself in the corner of the room watching him. As he passed by, he thought he could hear a faint voice coming from the frog’s corner.

“Hey,” it said in a low, croak-like voice.

“Why uh-- hello there,” Andromeda replied, somewhat surprised.

“So you’ve met Toriel, I presume. There is something I need to tell you,” the frog-monster said in a hushed tone.

Andromeda crouched down close to it, “I’ll bet I can take a guess. What’s up, buddy?”

The frog-monster’s eyes darted around for a moment, checking for anyone listening. Once he felt it was safe, he explained, “there is another human down here. They passed not long after you had arrived. Something happened, and now the child is gone, and Toriel hasn’t been taking it well. I’m not sure what happened to the other child, but you must be careful down here. You seem,” the monster motioned towards Andromeda’s sword on his side, “equipped enough to handle yourself, but there is more down here that you haven’t seen.”

Andromeda remembered something that Flowey had said to him earlier, “So I was told by some angry foliage that everything down here is kill or be killed. Doesn’t seem like it so far, but what could he mean by that?”

The frog paused for a moment before replying, “you will encounter danger, no doubt, but fighting isn’t always the answer, even if you came prepared for one.”

“Oh don’t mind these, I always carry them in case I need them, personally I’d prefer not to have any blood on my ha-- I mean, fuck, nevermind,” Andromeda trailed off, knowing he’d just nearly sold himself out.

The frog said somewhat cautiously, “some of us down here have our secrets. Some may tell you, while you may tell some others. That’s up to you, but you must be careful either way. Asgore needs but one human soul to break the barrier, everyone’s spirits are high because of it.”

Before Andromeda ask about this barrier, Toriel’s voice in the previous hallway took both of them by surprise. She was getting close, and neither of them had heard her at all. Andromeda gave a thankful nod to the monster before running out of the room and through the next doorway. He couldn’t believe what he had found. He found himself standing on a balcony overlooking an entire kingdom under the earth. He’d noticed a snowy forest similar to the one he had come through before he fell. He took notice of a castle in the distance. A bright light was shining through one of the windows of its higher towers. It appeared to pulsate, though it could have been the distance that he was seeing it from. Something about that light was captivating, and he knew he needed to find out what it truly was. He noticed in the snow leading from the ruins into the snowy forest was a tiny set of footprints, just barely visible by the shadows they left in the snow. This must be the fallen human he’s heard so much about.

Toriel stood in the doorway behind Andromeda, looking at him through hurt eyes. As he turned to face her, he noticed her holding something in her hands. He could smell cinnamon and… butterscotch?

“Oh hey, I was just admiring the scenery and I--”

Toriel cut him off, “I know you’re thinking of leaving this place. You don’t need to explain yourself. You look more prepared than the last child that I--,” a single tear ran down into the moistened fur around her eyes, “that I had lost. I couldn’t even stop them, I don’t need to try and stop you either.”

Andromeda carefully took the plate of pie from Toriel. It smelled wonderful, it was definitely something he’d never tried before. She joined him by the railing overlooking this massive underground civilization, watching in silence. The two stood together for almost fifteen minutes, talking amongst themselves about each other. The conversation was lighter than before, and telling Andromeda that she knew he was going to leave seemed to lift weight off off of Toriel’s shoulders.

“How is the pie, my child? I hope you enjoyed it, it was my son’s favorite once.”

Andromeda set the plate aside, “never had anything like it. I’d call it one of the finer things in life, personally!”

He noticed she said she had a son. This must be why she’s taken the loss of a child that’s not even her own so hard, but what ever came of him? Before Andromeda could ask, she was already turning to leave. She paused for a moment, waiting for him to follow her. As the two left the overlook he noticed that the frog-monster was gone. He wasn’t sure how he felt about what the frog told him, especially because Toriel has tried to stop the previous human from leaving according to her. He really didn’t want to have to fight this caring woman, and honestly wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to draw his sword against her if it came down to it. He had made a promise to himself in this moment, no matter what happens, swords or bows involved, his magic was an absolute last resort.

Andromeda noticed the visibly dead tree sitting in front of Toriel’s house. How quaint it was that it had perfectly described the mood that he’d been dealing with since the two of them met. It’s twisted, knobby trunk made him think of that ugly pain that Toriel was hiding inside. The inside of her house was nicely kept. He’d noticed that the floors were almost spotless, which was something he’d always thought was difficult to maintain with hardwood floors. He followed her into the living room, which was dimly lit by her fireplace. He admired the warmth that it filled the area with, for such a small fire it did wonders. She sat in her rocking chair next to the fireplace and began to read a book on snails. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but uh, you mind if I rest here for a while? It’s been a rough day, and all, but I can always hold up outside if you need me to.”

Toriel put her book down and quickly stood up, “I’m so sorry, my child! Let me show you where you can stay, how could I forget like this?”

He wanted to tell her that it was alright and that he understood what she was going through. He followed her across the house and down the hall to the second door on the left. When she opened it, he noticed that it was quite obviously a child’s room he would be staying in. Oh well, it beat sleeping on the front lawn. He thanked her for the room and removed his equipment before settling down for the night. As Toriel closed the door and left, he noticed that behind the wardrobe was a narrow space between the back of it and the wall. He slid his sword behind it and placed his bow and quiver underneath the bed. He wanted to take precautions in case Toriel had planned something. He was glad to finally have a place to sleep, even if the bed was shorter than he was. It didn’t matter to him, as long as the disguise spell held up he could sleep in it without an issue. He still felt focused enough that he wouldn’t need to worry about it. He lay his head on the pillow, and quickly drifted off to sleep. He began to hear the sounds of children laughing nearby...


	3. Chapter 3

    Andromeda awoke to the sound of his name being called. Despite still being in his human form, someone knew what to call him to get his attention. The voice came from very close by, but when he opened his eyes, he was the only one in the room, still lying on the bed where he had fallen asleep prior. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. There wasn’t anyone hiding in the corners, and his bow was still under the bed where he had left it. He got to his feet, still half asleep and very groggy. As he went to retrieve his sword from behind the wardrobe he heard a small child’s giggle come from behind him.

“Is someone there,” he asked without turning around. There was no response.

Toriel opened the door and peeked inside. “Did you say something, my child?”

“I didn’t, I thought someone was laughing behind me for a second, but I guess it must have just been me or something,” he replied.

“Oh, well I don’t think there’s anyone else here besides us, but sorry to bother you,” Toriel said as she slipped back into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

Andromeda kept sensing some kind of spiritual energy nearby. He was under the assumption that the mysterious sounds he’d been hearing were residual, but part of him believed otherwise. He only hoped that if he had to deal with an apparition of some kind that it wasn’t malevolent.

He walked into the living room, still in the form of the human, Andromeda. Toriel still sat in her rocking chair, her eyes locked on a picture she was holding in her hands. The devastated look on her face wasn’t easy to hide. Andromeda wanted her to notice him first to give her a chance to compose herself. Curious as to what her reading tastes were, he browsed the bookshelf across from where she sat. All he found was books on snails, cookbooks (some involving snails, which he found repulsive), and a few spell books about pyromancy. One particular spell book caught his eye. He pulled a navy blue bound book off of the shelf and held it in his hands. The title read, “Coursing Fire: the Art of Flame Imbuement and Fire Sorcery”.

“I didn’t realize humans had interest in magic.”

_ Oh shit, play it cool _ \--

Andromeda fumbled the book for a second, “Well I mean I’ve never seen what a spellbook looks like before, you know? I can put it back if you want, I just thought that it was interes--”

Toriel silenced him by raising her hand, “It’s alright, you can keep it. It’s an old copy anyway.”

Somehow he was surprised that she would let him take something like this. He was already under the assumption humans didn’t know magic, but could he be wrong? Could humans really know sorcery in this world? He’d noticed Toriel looking at the same picture she was holding with such intent that he wanted to ask about it. He wanted to know what was so important about it, even if it had no meaning to him.

“I miss them to this day…”

It was then Andromeda had a pretty good idea of who she was referring to in the photo. He caught a glimpse of it over her shoulder as he pretended to explore the kitchen. It was exactly what he’d thought, a smaller goat-like child and another human standing next to him, arm slung over the goat’s shoulder. They looked so happy in the photo, nothing could have brought them down in that moment. There they sat, frozen in eternal loving joy in Toriel’s hands, forever their bright and smiling faces printed on the paper reminding her of her pain.

“Is that-- him,” Andromeda asked.

Without looking up from the picture she replied, “This is my Asriel and my other adopted child, Chara. I think about them every day, it’s been so long since-- well…”

Andromeda knelt down next to Toriel’s chair. Things started to make sense to him. He knew now why she took it so hard when this other human had left her before. She had given up all hope, and it was painfully obvious that she wasn’t going to ever be free of this torment. With one hand on her shoulder, he spoke softly, “He looks just like you. I’m sure he would have done anything he could to make you proud today, I just know it.”

She looked down at him, surprised at his words. Andromeda stared at the floor blankly, remembering.

“I don’t actually know any of my true family. I was old enough to remember them when I lost them. My mother--,” he paused for a moment, “you know, on second thought, perhaps it’s best if it stayed a memory. I don’t want to put this on you, Tor--”

“You don’t need to hide anything, my child. We all feel pain, even if it’s in our hearts. It’s something we learn from, something we carry with us,” Toriel’s calm words brought his memories flooding back to him.

He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t, he refused to. He didn’t want to tell his story and try to invalidate her own pain, it just wasn’t fair. He’d lost his mother and true father in a war that was never supposed to have happened. It was so long ago, why would it matter now? Why should it matter now, it wasn’t  _ his _ kids he was weighing the loss of. His eyes met Toriel’s when he looked up from the floor. She had gotten to her feet as he was fighting back his own feelings, and as he stood up, he was somehow surprised that she was hugging him. As he locked his arms around her, he could picture his mother standing in the doorway of his old cottage he’d grown up in a world away. She stood in her apron holding his grandmother’s wooden soup ladle, smiling as she watched a young Andromeda playing in the field on their farm. He’d always hated having to disguise himself as a human in bad circumstances. To him, this ‘Andrew’ was a curse, a curse he would never be free of.

Between heartbreaking sobs, he managed to get out, “I’m sorry Toriel, I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay, my child. Everything will be okay, I promise.”

Andromeda’s grip started to loosen, “I didn’t mean to dump this on you…”

“You don’t have to be sorry for it though, it’s not your fault,” Toriel replied.

He looked Toriel in the eyes, failing to hide his own emotions. The two of them smiled at each other once more. For once, Andromeda felt like he’d made a true friend. Most humans he’d known throughout his life held some resentment for his kind, even when they called him a ‘friend’. He always knew it was happening, and everyone he’d ever known had been at an arm’s length. Something here changed, something he’d never felt before. He trusted her. But how could he trust her so quickly, they hadn’t met not even a day before? At this point, none of that mattered. Even if the two came from completely different worlds, in this moment, they were one in the same.

The dreadful misery that hung in the room like a poisonous cloud had lifted entirely. Toriel was in the kitchen preparing tea when Andromeda had an idea. He’d always been distrustful for most of his life, but he wasn’t one to never give someone a chance. As Toriel returned holding a plate with a teapot and cups for the two of them, Andromeda asked how she usually drank her tea. Surprisingly she said she preferred it cold, and that she hoped that he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind one bit. Holding his cup in his left hand, he sparked a flame in his right and held it underneath the cup to warm the tea. He grinned as he watched a shocked expression form on her face almost faster than he could blink. She watched wide-eyed as he heated his tea with a basic warmth pyromancy. He hovered the porcelain cup just over the flame enough to keep it from cracking.

“My-- my child! You-- you can do-- magic?!”

“Well, yes. Truth be told, I hope I can trust you to keep this a secret. There’s just some deeper issues that I’ve never really gotten over, you know,” Andromeda replied, acting as casual as he could. His hands were shaking from nervousness.

Toriel stared at him in total awe for a moment. She could hardly believe what she was seeing, while Andromeda was hoping she wouldn’t. He wasn’t about to reveal that he was in fact not human at all to her.

“How are you doing this, is this some kind of trick,” Toriel asked, trying to comprehend the situation.

“Not exactly, but it’s real magic. It’s a basic pyromancy, I generally stick to basics because I’ve destroyed things in the past by using even stronger spells. Hell, once I tried to make it rain fire and it turned into a minor meteor shower,” Andromeda said, amused.

Toriel chuckled, “I remember when I was a child, I wanted to light my mother’s candle for her to be helpful. I misjudged how hot the flame should be, and we ended up picking candle wax and glass shards out of my fur for hours afterward.”

The hours went by as the two sat and talked about their lives and how they ended up where they are now. A lot of what was said Andromeda already knew, as they had spoken about it in brief before arriving at Toriel’s house. What he didn’t know was that the frog he had spoken to the previous day was onto something about this ‘Asgore’ he’d mentioned. When Toriel spoke his name he listened closely.

“Asgore is still to this day the king of the underground. He’s the ruler that everyone is looking up to in these trying times. It wasn’t always this way though, and unfortunately things grew too hard to bear, not after our Asriel’s death.”

_ Did she say ‘our’ Asriel’s death? Is she-- oh fuck! _

“You mean you were the queen,” Andromeda nearly shouted as he took a knee as a sign of respect for unexpected discovery of royalty.

“You don’t need to bow, my child,” Toriel replied, trying not to laugh at him.

Andromeda rose to his feet again, mildly embarrassed. “I’m sorry, force of habit…”

“I admire your chivalry, though. Few possess that trait truly nowadays. Anyhow,” Toriel sipped her tea, “since Asriel’s death, he was never the same. He swore war on humanity, and even rallied a sizeable army, which is known now as the Royal Guard to fight them when the day came that he was able to break the barrier holding us here. So far, that day has yet to arrive.”

The frog had said something about this before, “why can’t he break the barrier? You’d think with someone as strong as he is it wouldn’t be an issue, right?”

Toriel’s face became more somber, “he needs seven human souls. He has six, and now with two humans down here… I fear what could happen if he has one more than he needs.”

Andromeda wanted to laugh at the thought of an underground king killing him. Out of respect he held his tongue, but it wouldn’t have been his first time dealing with kings that wanted his head on a spike.

“Hypothetically, what would a dragon’s soul get him,” Andromeda dangerously asked.

“What do you mean? We don’t have dragons down here that I’m aware of, my child.”

_...oh. _

Somehow Toriel’s response surprised him. If he truly was the first one, he didn’t think he could take the entire underground civilization in a fight if Asgore suddenly realizes what kind of power dragon’s souls have been known to hold. He didn’t even know if he could bring himself to do it in the first place, or if he would even be powerful enough.

The conversation had winded down after a short while. Andromeda was beginning to tell that Toriel was growing worried again. They both knew he would have to leave soon. As much as they could do to pass the time, this unfortunate fact gnawed at them both. Andromeda knew it was going to hurt her, but he found solace in the fact that he was going out on a high note, rather than being thrown out into the world because of something worse. They sat in silence, their eyes meeting one another’s occasionally while they tried to distract themselves from the inevitable.

With a heavy sigh, Toriel looked at Andromeda and spoke softly, “It’s time, isn’t it?”

All he could do was nod apologetically.

Toriel painstakingly got up from her seat and motioned for him to follow her. Crossing the living room felt as though he was going up to face his own execution. She began to descend the stairs in front of her front door that lead into a lower corridor. She glanced up at him through the railing as he shuffled behind her. From a side pocket on his jacket he fished out a small chain that once belonged to a potion vial. He reached into his jacket and fished out a small prism-shaped bottle with a loop in it’s lid. As he rounded the corner, he could see Toriel waiting for him at the end of the hallway. She was standing in front of a massive set of stone doors with a the same insignia that was on her robe.

Toriel turned to begin opening the doors before Andromeda interrupted.

“Hey Toriel, wait up a second,” he called out to her.

She turned to see him holding his hand over his heart. A faint orange glow emanated from beneath his palm, and grew brighter as he pulled his hand away. A small ball of fire hovered freely above his outstretched palm. Tiny sparks drifted into the air as the flame flickered like a tiny candle. He put it in the prismatic bottle he was holding, then sealed the lid and ran the chain through the loop on top.

“Here, this is an ember. Basically, it’s a tiny piece of me to remember me by. When you want someone you meet to know you’re alright, they just need to look at it. If it’s still burning, I’m fine. If it begins to fade… Well, you get the point,” Andromeda explained as he offered her the small bottled fire.

As carefully as she could, Toriel let the chain hang over the back of her hand as she took the ember from him. A tear ran down her cheek as she watched it float off of the bottom of the tiny bottle. The clasp was a little difficult to undo, but soon his flame hung proudly from her neck. As one final goodbye, Toriel hugged Andromeda as tight as she could. Tiny cinders began to float like snow around them as the ember grew stronger. They danced in the air like tiny fairies celebrating their friendship. He could only hope that he would see her again. In this moment, he made a silent promise that if their paths were to cross again, he would do anything he could to ease her loss. For now, he knew that it was his time to go. 

The flakey ash and cinders quickly faded as Toriel let him go for the last time. With a proud smile, she turned and raised her hands high above her head. Purple waves of energy rushed away in all directions from them. The doors began to creak as they slid to the sides. A sliver of light illuminated the stone floor before them, growing wider and wider as the doors parted from each other. The stopped with a bang, making the stone structure rumble as they finally came to a halt.

This was it. Slowly he began to pace towards the open doorway. He knew that this was only the first step. This journey wasn’t going to be easy, but he felt lucky that he had found a friend that he will always remember. He felt… at peace. With one final wave, he stepped out into the snow-covered forest that lie beyond the doors, not knowing if he would ever come back.


	4. Chapter 4

    The snow crunched beneath Andromeda’s feet as he strolled down the open road ahead of him. The trees around him somehow had snow on their branches, but he couldn’t see any open sky above him for it to fall from. It seemed like every time he looked around, the cavernous world he’d found himself in grew much larger than before. The cave ceiling was high enough that he’d expected wyverns to be flying overhead as if they were soaring through the heavens. A slight breeze blew through the trees, chilling his skin as he walked. It was just like the surface, but at least he could be thankful that it wasn’t blizzard conditions he was trudging through.

    A small orb of fire floated close to him, giving him just enough warmth to keep the cold from burning his skin. He always hated cold weather. He remembered his younger siblings frolicking in the fields when winter had finally arrived. While they would be engaged in a snowball fight or making snow angels, Andromeda was trying to use pyromancy to melt the snow and do battle with this dreaded season, only for his efforts to end in vain. He smiled as he recalled memories from his early childhood, wishing that things could be as simple as they used to be. The peace and quiet of a late night snow shower always brought him happiness, no matter how much would pile up in the morning. It was always comforting to study by the fire when reading spell books and practicing magic, and was something Andromeda frequently wished he could do again.

    The photo of Chara and Asriel still lingered in the back of his mind. It was interesting that Toriel had adopted a human child, though he never found out how long the human had lived for. Still, the photo preserved their memories and the happiness that they shared. He found it haunting, and completely understood why Toriel was still devastated to this day.

    Fog rolled in through the large spruce trees that lined the snowy path. Visibility was rapidly decreasing, yet he couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. There was no wind, there was no place for snow to fall, and the woods were still silent. Andromeda tried to combat the fog by making his floating flame more intense.. It helped some, but the heavy mist was overtaking the light in front of him. He continued to walk on, hoping that he didn’t slam into anything or anyone. In the distance he could hear the sounds of a child calling out for someone. Even though he was standing still, the voice was growing closer to him. Andromeda closed his eyes and listened, trying to hear where the owner was. Suddenly he felt a pressure on his right shoulder, and a raspy, terrified voice whispered, “help us!” His eyes shot open. He looked all around, spinning in circles trying to find the person who spoke in his ear. His search came up empty, though he was still sensing something nearby.  Even though he knew he was alone, the feeling of being watched gnawed at him. He could hear the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow up ahead. They kept a slow pace with him as if to act as a guide to safety. After a few minutes of following the phantom walker, the fog began to lift as Andromeda came to a section of woods that was beginning to thin out.

    “Is anyone there?” Andromeda called out.

    “Come on, you’re so slow,” A child’s voice called back from somewhere out of sight. The sound came from directly ahead.

    Andromeda stood at the foot of a small bridge that crossed a giant chasm in the ground. The view of the forested cavern was breathtaking. Small cabins dotted the underground countryside, smoke billowing from their chimneys like distant tobacco pipes. Something caught his eye nearby as he admired the scenery. Tiny footprints in the snow, no larger than a child’s lay imprinted into the fluffy powder. As he crossed the bridge he couldn’t help but notice the rather poorly built barrier that was put up to stop people from crossing the bridge. The logs were spaced too far apart to stop any human, and it was angled in such a way that it was easy to walk around with little effort.

    As he entered an open area of the path, he noticed an empty guard post and a lamp sitting to his left. Andromeda pulled the cord, and was slightly disappointed to find that the bulb wouldn’t light, even though it was clearly not plugged into anything. He looked through the guard’s outpost in hopes of finding something useful to take on his journey, but much to his surprise the only thing he found was a few empty ketchup bottles and packets. Everything was stored neatly on little shelves beneath the counter, minus one bottle that lay on it’s side. The label read ‘Grillbys’.

    “Hey, over here! Come on!”

    Andromeda stuck his head up from behind the guard’s station, looking for that same familiar voice that had been guiding him earlier. A calm breeze rolled over him, like someone was trying to let him know they were there. He stood as far out in the open as he could and hoped that someone would see him. He called out to whomever he thought was there, but no one answered him. Rather than wait, he decided it was best if he moved on, hopefully before whoever it was that was working the guard’s outpost came back.

    The chill of the forest started to get to him. He could feel an icy chill running across his skin as he continued walking. He was quite surprised to see that suddenly he was no longer alone, as there were another set of footprints running alongside his, though they were not human. The bird-footed creature couldn’t have been too far off, as the tracks were still very fresh. Andromeda could begin to pick up a scent trail as well, even in his human form. They veered off to the left, just before disappearing into the woods, but somehow he felt like the owner was close by. Just as he was getting back to his feet from inspecting the ground, the sound of something moving directly in front of his face sent him flailing backwards.

    “What the fu-- don’t you know it’s rude to jump out at people,” Andromeda asked as he picked himself up in a huff.

    “OH! I’m uh-- sorry about that, yeah! I guess I have to take the _fall_ for this one, right?”

    Andromeda’s eyebrow furrowed. Did this snowflake-bird crossbreed thing just make a pun at him after that?

    “Excuse me? Apparently some people’s manners just _fell_ through the cracks it seems,” he replied scathingly.

    He noticed the feet on this creature were bird-like as well, matching those that made the footprints he’d started to follow. Come to think of it, this creature did kind of look like a bird, with part of a snowflake on it’s face that stuck up from his forehead like a crest. When he would try to make eye contact, the creature’s eyes would dart around like they didn’t want to be seen. Regardless of what this thing looked like, he wasn’t one to start off on the wrong foot, even if he was taken off of his first.

    As he extended his hand, Andromeda said, “Let’s just start this over again. I’m Androme-- I mean Andrew. Andrew,” he hated this part, “Meadows.”

    The creature extended a wing towards him, obviously unable to grasp his hand due to his plumage. Andromeda couldn’t help but admire the blue tint his feathers had, though. He closed a few feathers in his hand and shook it lightly.

    “I’m Snowdrake! I didn’t mean to scare you there, I guess you were as shocked as-- a powerline,” the monster replied. Andromeda was really beginning to hate his jokes.

    “Heh, _punny_ ,” he replied, trying not to look like an asshole in front of him.

    As he got to his feet and started walking, Snowdrake caught up shortly behind him and tugged on his shirt.

    Trying to keep pace, he asked, “so where’d you come from? There’s two humans now, isn’t that weird?”

    “So you saw the other human too, huh? I sort of fell, if you want to believe that,” Andromeda replied.

    “It’s what happened to the other ones! They wanted to fly, but gravity got them down,” Snowdrake forced his pun at the end in an extremely painful manner.

    After his very visible wince of horror, Andromeda asked, “so you really love telling jokes, don’t you?”

    Snowdrake’s eyes lit up, “finally someone understands! I’ve been practicing, but nobody finds them funny.”

    For a moment he wanted to be brutally honest, but this was just a kid. He had more taste than to dash someone’s dreams, but his puns were also driving him mad.

    “Listen Snowdrake-- well before I go there, where did you come from? You’re alone in the woods. Isn’t that dangerous?” Andromeda said, trying to derail his mind from asking the hard questions too early.

    “Oh, I come here a lot with my friends. We wander through the woods searching for humans, oh boy they’re going to be so amazed when they see you!”

    Andromeda slowed down to a near stop, “okay first of all I’m no trophy, we just met and I’m not sure dragging me into company is going to be a good idea right off the bat, don’t you think?”

    Snowdrake’s toothy smile faded into a frown, “oh, right, guess I should take it slow, right? We wouldn’t want to _dash_ into anything, right?”

    _Those fucking puns, kid. Why are you making those fucking puns?_

    “Yeah, let’s snow this down a bit shall w--,” Andromeda realized his mistake too late. Snowdrake was grinning from ear to ear at this mishap.

    “You jus--”

    Andromeda’s hand shot up to stop him, but he couldn’t help but crack a smile anyway.

    “Listen Snowdrake, where are you headed? I’m looking for a place to warm up, assuming there is one,” he asked.

    Snowdrake hopped around in front of him like a child wanting to show off their new toy, “We can go to Snowdin! That’s not too far from here, I even know a shortcut! Just uh, watch out for the two skeletons, one of them really wants to catch a human really bad!”

    _So now there’s necromancers, great._

“Skeletons? You mean like, resurrected corpses, necromancy stuff?”

    Snowdrake gave him a cockeyed glance and asked what necromancy was. There was no way that Andromeda was going to explain it, especially if he knows magic exists in this world. He answered with simply, “don’t worry about it.” As the two continued walking, something caught his eye as Snowdrake was busy talking about random things in the forest. A dog looking through the window of his guard post was fixated on him with a hateful glare. Snowdrake didn’t notice it at first, but Andromeda put his hand on his head and stopped him from going any further. He moved himself between Snowdrake and the dog guard, lowering his hand onto his sword handle.

    “Hey uh, what are you doing? That’s Doggo, he can’t see anything that doesn’t move. He’s harmless, just a little bit weird--”

    The dog leapt straight out of the window and began frantically searching for the two of them. It was true, he was blind as hell to anything that wasn’t moving. He rammed himself into the guard post a few times, then tripped over a small mound of snow that was maybe a foot high. What got Andromeda’s attention were the two blades he carried at his sides.

    “He’s harmless, Snowdrake? Why is he armed then,” Andromeda asked wearily.

    “I’ve never seen those before,” he replied.

    “HALT, WHO’S THERE,” Doggo shouted in the opposite direction of them, “I CAN HEAR YOU, COME OUT RIGHT NOW!”

    Andromeda’s brow furrowed, “so I’m not worried anymore. Watch this,” he said as he began to cast a spell over them. Their appearance quickly began to turn transparent before finally disappearing altogether.

    “You can cast magic?” Snowdrake asked, both confused and amazed by the fact that they were now invisible.

    “You didn’t notice the orb of flame that’s been hovering around that just went out?” Andromeda replied curiously.

    “I uh, oh, right.”

    Andromeda guided Snowdrake behind him, and the two slipped past Doggo without any trouble. He was still frantically trying to find anyone around him, and failing miserably. Finally he popped one end of a dog treat into his mouth and the pulled a lighter from his pocket. Much to Andromeda’s horror, he lit the other end like a cigarette and began to smoke the treat. As they started to leave, he got an idea.

    “Hey Snowdrake, hold up a second,” he lifted the invisibility spell that he had cast, “I’ve got an idea. Stand perfectly still so he doesn’t get any clues you’re there and watch this,” he said as he tip toed over to Doggo, who was still freaking out and smoking a bone shaped dog treat. He recast the invisibility spell on himself and snuck up behind him. Doggo began to lean backwards against the guard outpost, unaware that Andromeda stood between him and the wall. His eyes shot wide open as he felt himself lean against something that was definitely not flat.

    “What the--”

    Andromeda leaned towards his left ear, “Hey baby.”

Doggo shoved Andromeda hard against the shack and tumbled onto the snowy path. Snowdrake tried not to laugh, but a few chuckles escaped him.

“Fuck, he shoves hard,” Andromeda said under his breath.

“WHO WAS THAT? WHO’S THERE, I WILL FIND YOU!” Doggo screamed while doing laps in a circle as he unsuccessfully searched for someone.

“No you won’t,” Andromeda replied, driving Doggo further into madness.

“WHO IS THAT, I CA--,”

Footprints began to appear in the snow before him at a slow pace. One would show up about a second and a half after the previous one. Andromeda slowly made his way towards him, taking graceful steps that nobody could see. He approached Doggo’s right side and lightly put his hand on his shoulder. Doggo’s body tensed up, the hair on his neck raising in fear. Leaning in closely, Andromeda whispered, “hiya, sweetheart.” The scream that Doggo let out sent both Andromeda and Snowdrake into fits of laughter. Doggo ran up the trail screaming about the ‘ghosts’ that were out to get him and that he didn’t sign up for that shit. Andromeda was laughing too hard to keep the spell up, and Snowdrake couldn’t keep himself upright from bouts of cackling either.

“I had no idea humans could do magic,” Snowdrake said between chuckles.

“Some can, others resent them for it. Never really understood that part,” Andromeda explained.

Snowdrake looked shocked, “how can you not love magic? It’s the greatest thing ever!”

“There’s been wars fought over it, mostly because someone who couldn’t do magic was afraid of it and thought it was evil. We both know how _that_ one ended,” Andromeda replied.

Snowdrake paused, “where are you from again?”

“Nowhere, it’s not important. Just saying that magic has stirred trouble in the past, and I try to keep it secret. I haven’t been doing a good job of that as you can see,” Andromeda chuckled.

    The trees began to thin as they began to ascend a hill in the road. As they reached the top the trees were mostly gone, revealing a breathtaking view of the underground from their current spot. Andromeda stood in awe at the true size of the Snowdin forest that he was walking high above. Snowdrake had seen this view a million times, but he still found it touching that someone else was enjoying it for once. He pointed out a tiny cabin out in a field. It’s lights were on and smoke rose from its chimney. Someone exited through the front door and stood in the front yard for a moment before heading back inside. Snowdrake explained that he knew the monsters who lived in that house. He always loved to go there and bake cookies with them, then afterward frolick in the snow outside with their two kids. It felt like a home to him, at least a better one than his own. When Andromeda asked what he meant, he wasn’t very surprised to hear that his father never thought he was a good comedian. He didn’t expect to hear that they never had the best relationship, but for other reasons than just that. Of course, he wasn’t wrong about the bad jokes, but who tells their own kid that? Andromeda sat down in the soft snow next to Snowdrake and put his arm around him.

    “You know, maybe your parents wanted to look out for you and see that you went somewhere good in life. They probably just wanted you to be happy, and make good choices early,” Andromeda explained.

    “Ever since my mom-- disappeared, things weren’t the same. I found myself leaving more and more, dad would get angry over small things, and just wasn’t the nice monster he used to be,” Snowdrake replied.

    Andromeda wasn’t sure if this was a good time to ask about what happened to his mother, but he did have a theory as to why he was in the forest now. Before he continued, he wanted to know more about these ‘friends’ he wanted so desperately for him to meet.

    “So who were these other folks that we wanted to see? Anyone important?” Andromeda asked.

    “They were other monsters I’d hang around when I left home. I didn’t feel so alone when I was with them, even if we did get into trouble,” Snowdrake replied sullenly.

    Andromeda thought he could hear someone walking behind them. He started listening for crunching snow while speaking with Snowdrake.

    “So what were you doing in the woods in the first place? Did you come looking for your friends?” Andromeda asked, trying to subtly inject his theory into the conversation.

    “At first. They said that there was another human that they saw standing with the goat woman in the ruins. Of course, they all wanted to see this one and we said we’d find each other in the woods. I didn’t find them, but I wanted to see the human so I kept going. That’s when I ran into you, literally!”

    This monster wasn’t in a good place. He was lucky that Andromeda wasn’t out for blood, this monster was just a kid. He didn’t want to think about what else could have happened to him if luck wasn’t on his side.

    “Can I ask what would have happened if that human you found turned out to be a killer?” Andromeda asked with great concern.

    Snowdrake’s eyes widened with fear, “I-- I don’t-- I don’t know. I didn’t think about that!”

    Snow crunched again, this time coming from directly behind Andromeda’s back. As he turned around to see who was watching, he heard a child quietly laughing before running off again in the opposite direction. No footprints were left behind this time.

    “Hey, are you alright?” Snowdrake asked.

    “Yeah, I thought I heard someone walking behind us for a second, but I guess it must have been the snow or something. Come on, let’s not dwell on our pasts anymore. We’ve got the future to look forward to, and we have right now, that’s all that matters. But Snowdrake,” Andromeda looked him in the eye, “things are hard now, and they only get harder, but don’t lose everything you’ve got because of a bad decision. I’ve not met your friends, but I’d be more careful next time if I were you, especially when dealing with unfamiliar people.”

    Snowdrake’s face glowed with joy, “I will, I promise!”

    Even though Andromeda never desired to have children of his own, he enjoyed being something to those younger than him. Snowdrake may never reconcile with his father, maybe he will. The time he’d spent with him up to this point had taken a toll on him, and he felt that even though he’d only just met him, he was becoming like a brother to him. Snowdrake’s guidance was peers that weren’t trustworthy enough in Andromeda’s eyes to lead him down a good path, but it wasn’t his judgement to make. He was very fond of the monster, regardless of how different they were.

    “Hey Andrew, can I ask you a question?”

    Andromeda nodded.

    “Did your parents believe in what you wanted to do?” Snowdrake asked.

    “They--,” Andromeda paused and stared off into the distance, “they probably would have. Maybe not all of what I’ve done, but it wasn’t really in my control at that point in my life.”

    Snowdrake seemed to have picked up the hint, but still asked, “Are your parents-- alive?”

    Andromeda’s tone deepened, “no, Snowdrake, they aren’t. I wanted to make the point to you earlier that you still have your father to make amends with, I don’t.”

    Snowdrake’s cautious expression slowly showed signs of his mistake. He hadn’t intended to bring up dark memories, Andromeda knew it. He said it before, it’s not worth it to dwell on the past. He lifted his spirits by telling a light hearted joke and won a laugh from him. At least he had something to keep him going, even if his comedy would need a lot of work. That in itself gave him the will to keep trying, no matter what happens. Andromeda admired him for it. Snowdrake reminded him of his days as an early sorcerer trying to learn how to keep the room from catching fire from pyromancies gone bad. He remembered his mistakes he’d made when he was handed a sorcerer’s staff and told to cast a simple light spell. He was glad that nobody had gone blind after that incident, but his professors weren’t too impressed with him for it.

    As Andromeda rose to his feet, he noticed Snowdrake look quickly to one direction, then jerk hard on his pant leg. He pointed further up the road at an umbrella poking up from behind a hill. Someone didn’t want to get sunburned, obviously. Judging by Snowdrake’s ecstatic bouncing it was something worth investigating.

    Andromeda peered in the direction of the red and white canopy, “What is it? It just looks like an umbrella to me, Snowdrake.”

    “It’s not just any umbrella, It’s the nice cream booth! Oh man, can we get some, can we, can we can we can we--”

    Andromeda put his hand on Snowdrake’s head, “chill, buddy, let’s go check it out but I’m broke as shit, just so you know.”

    Before he could even finish his sentence Snowdrake was already twenty feet ahead of him with no sign of slowing down. He may as well have had his _own_ kid at this point. He was wondering if he’d meant ice cream, but it wouldn’t be the only weird thing he’s seen so far if it was in fact called what it was. As he walked over the hill a bunny with blue fur, bright yellow t-shirt and red pants looked in his direction as Snowdrake jumped up and down with enough enthusiasm to cause a small avalanche. He leaned against his cart as though he had no care in the world.

    “Ah, this must be your friend, welcome!” the salesman said.

    Andromeda jogged over to the vendor’s stand, “Yep, that would be me, I am friend. I hope he wasn’t causing you any trouble,” he said as he came to a stop in front of him.

    The salesman waved his hand down in a “naa” fashion, “All’s good. Care to buy some nice cream? Sales haven’t really been too good around here, not sure why.”

    Andromeda’s brow furrowed, “you mean you never thought that selling ice cream in the middle of a snowy forest wasn’t a good business decision?”

    The salesman just shrugged.

    “So you called it nice cream?” Andromeda asked, still not believing the name.

    “Yep! That’s what it is, only 2 g each, care to buy some?”

    _Ugh, shit. What do I do, does he haggle? Does he at least have some kindness in his soul?_

Andromeda rummaged through his pockets looking for money, “damn, I don’t think I have any dosh on me right now,” he looked down to Snowdrake, who’s happiness was quickly draining like water through a floodgate, “ but look, I don’t wanna be that guy that tries to bargain with you, but he’s been freaking out for the past two miles about this stand, and all I’ve heard was great things about it. I hate to ask, but could we cut a deal, like, a sample of sorts?”

    The nice cream salesman looked down at Snowdrake with a smile. He had him now. He looked back at Andromeda with an apologetic expression before reaching into his cart and retrieving two blue popsicles and handing one to him and the other to Snowdrake.

    “It’s on the house. I can’t just say no to a faithful customer, can I?” the saleman said.

    Andromeda shook his hand and thanked him for the frozen treat before the two went on their way.

    “How did you do that?” Snowdrake asked.

    “Easy, just gotta know what strings to pull. I’ve done that sort of thing for most of my life, so you pick things up along the way. I’m not proud of it, but it does come in handy from time to time,” Andromeda explained.

    The nice cream was surprisingly good. It had hints of blueberry and watermelon with a touch of sour to give it an interesting kick. He didn’t want to stop eating it, but he could swear that every time he licked it he could hear it saying something. As he licked it again, this time much more slowly, he could hear the treat say in a very hushed tone, “You look great today!”

    He held the treat out in front of him curiously, “so that’s why they call it nice cream. It whispers compliments to you.”

    Snowdrake nodded happily, never taking his popsicle out of his mouth. Andromeda just shrugged and continued eating it, despite the guilt that he started to feel for consuming his tasty admirer.

    “You’ve never had nice cream before?” Snowdrake asked, somewhat in disbelief.

    Andromeda looked once again at the frozen treat he was eating. He forced a confused expression as he pretended to examine it and responded, “well, most things I eat don’t exactly compliment me every time I take a bite.”

    Soon they were both giggling like idiots as they continued on their journey. Little did either of them realize that they had also caught someone else’s attention, and were being followed from the shadows.

    The landscape of the next part of the woods they’d entered made little sense to either Andromeda or Snowdrake. Large cylindrical objects molded from snow jutted straight out of the ground in random places. Some of them were spiraled around each other in loop-de-loop patterns while others had just broken off into large clumps of semi-solidified snow. Andromeda knelt down and found himself face to face with a rather well done sculpture of a dog’s head. Why were there so many of these things lying around? They were pretty well made for as strange as they were. He managed to carve into one of the curvy cylinders and get his sword stuck mid way through. The only way he was able to pull it out was to heat the blade with a fire spell, and even then it took longer than he’d thought to get the sword warm enough to remove it.

    “What the hell is all of this?” Andromeda asked while kicking at a broken section of snow.

    “One of the dog guards made this awhile back. He’s really good at making these, and I guess this is what he does in his free time,” Snowdrake explained while casually observing a statue with part of its head gone.

    Andromeda noticed someone standing off in the distance, watching them admire the profound artwork. He gave a wave to the deer woman standing with her arms crossed. She returned the gesture with a knowing nod before making her way over to them.

    “I don’t understand dogs sometimes,” she remarked as she observed the statue Snowdrake was in front of.

    Andromeda shrugged, “I don’t think we ever will at this rate, but it’s impressive, I have to give him that.”

    The top section of the cylinder he’d gotten his sword stuck in suddenly fell over on his head, covering him in packed snow. He jumped straight in the air and yelped when a large clump of snow fell down the back of his shirt. Snowdrake quickly spun around to see his friend flailing his arms around and stomping all over the place. He swore loudly as the snow was now making its way down the back of his pants. The woman who’d joined them chuckled at his plight while Snowdrake couldn’t help himself and started laughing. Andromeda tripped over a misshapen dog head and fell straight on his butt. He immediately rolled to his right out of reflex and put his hand in a half-frozen puddle. When he finally got back to his feet his hair looked like he’d peppered himself with snowflakes. The right side of his gray t-shirt was four shades darker than the rest of it. Snowdrake was crying with laughter while the woman was failing at hiding her own laughter.

    Andromeda brushed himself off as best he could before giving them a thumbs up. He couldn’t tell if his face were more red from embarrassment or freezing. His fingers had gone nearly numb on his right hand, and he was trying to warm them himself with a small flame he’d summoned.

    “Okay I’ve seen enough, the art is aggressive,” Andromeda stated between shivers.

    “Well you definitely are the first one I’ve seen manage to do something like that!” the woman replied with a grin.

    Snowdrake managed to pull himself together enough to add, “you should have seen your face when it hit you on the head! You looked like Doggo did when he threw you against the wall!”

    Karma’s a bitch. He laughed it off, but he knew he wouldn’t live this down whenever Snowdrake came around again. Maybe it was Doggo’s way of getting him back, anyway. Now all he needed to do was find a way to dry himself off and hope that there’s nothing else for him to trip on.

    “So Snowdrake, how much farther to town?” Andromeda asked.

    “Oh, you mean Snowdin? It’s not much farther from here. Just keep following the trail and you should get there in no time,” the woman replied.

    “Yeah, we’re close by now!” Snowdrake added while pointing a wing up the road.

    Andromeda and the woman said their goodbyes before parting ways. Snowdrake waved goodbye with his brightest smile as the two made their way for town. Shortly ahead Andromeda began to feel the ground become much more slippery than before. Before he’d realized what he was walking on he flipped almost completely upside down before landing on his back with his feet straight in the air.

    “Oh my god, are you alright?” Snowdrake yelled out as he flocked over to his fallen friend.

    Andromeda stared angrily at the sky, he grumbled through gritted teeth, “what the fuck else is there that I can fall on?”

    Snowdrake attempted to help him up, only to fall on his own backside as well with a soft ‘thump’. Andromeda managed to get to his feet after a struggle with the ice and his own legs. He used his sword for support, which he found was sharp enough to pierce the ice and give them something to hold on to.

    He held out his hand, “Here, grab on, I’ll try to walk us across here, the ice is way worse than I tho--”

    Before he’d realized, Snowdrake began skating around the ice on his butt and laughing the whole way. He did laps around the large patch of ice using just his wings to propel him along the slippery surface. Andromeda sheathed his sword and stumbled his way across the ice while avoiding the feathery projectile that was Snowdrake and his newly found fun.

    “Alright, come on buddy we gotta get going,” Andromeda told him as he lifted him up from the ice.

    “Aw man, come on it’s fun!” Snowdrake complained.

    Andromeda set him back down, “I’m sure it is, but remember that we had a goal to achieve here, we’ve got great things to accomplish!”

    “Yeah, alright, let’s go,” Snowdrake pouted in reply.

    “SANS, IS THAT YOU?” a loud, somewhat high pitched voice screamed out from somewhere up the road.

    “Uh oh, I think that’s Papyrus, you had better hide!” Snowdrake warned while fluttering up and down.

    “Papyrus? That’s an interesting name, but who--,” Andromeda found himself staring face to face with a tall skeleton wearing an orange and white armor set that barely even covered his mid-section. His cape began to ruffle in waves as he began bouncing with excitement.

    “S-- SANS-- SANS OH MY GOD THERE’S ANOTHER HUMAN!” The skeleton screamed.

    Andromeda tried not to stare at him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of what stood before him.

    “Papyrus?” Andromeda asked.

    “HUMAN YOU-- you know my name? How do you know my name? The Great Papyrus does not recall telling you such things,” Papyrus replied dumbfoundedly.

    Andromeda looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck, “Uh, I don’t know, got lucky I guess?”

    “NO MATTER, BECAUSE WHEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAPTURE YOU AS WELL, I’LL BE EVEN MORE FAMOUS THAN EVER BEFORE! THEN THE ROYAL GUARD WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT ME, EVEN MAKE ME THEIR LEADER LIKE UNDYNE!” Papyrus screamed louder than before.

    A grin began to form on Andromeda’s face, “don’t get your hopes up there bucko, I’m not on the market today.”

    A very strong magical presence appeared somewhere nearby. Andromeda couldn’t see where it was coming from, but he knew it was within 15 meters of him.

    Papyrus nearly threw himself off balance from pointing at his equipment so hard, “I EVEN SEE YOU ARE CARRYING A SWORD AND A BOW! YOU SHALL BE A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT IN BATTLE! COME, FACE ME HUMAN, SO THAT I MAY BEST YOU IN COMBAT AND PROVE WHO IS TRULY THE STRONGER ONE!”

    Andromeda remained calm and explained, “Sometimes the stronger one doesn’t need to draw any weapon. You don’t need to fight _everything_ just to prove you’re worth. More often than not it’s never worth it anyways. Why have blood on your hands when you can keep them clean?”

    A look of horror quickly washed over Papyrus’ bony face, “OH MY GOD HUMAN, YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS? ARE YOU HURT, YOU DIDN’T CUT YOURSELF ON YOUR SWORD DID YOU?”

    Andromeda shook his head, “No Papyrus, I didn’t, what I meant by that is that you don’t need to kill someone to be stronger or better. Having blood on your hands means you’ve killed someone before where I come from,” he quickly stopped himself when he saw the look of shock still on his face, “but I’m not going to talk about that because you don’t need to know about this judging by how you’re taking it now.”

    Papyrus quickly regained his composure, “WELL, AT LEAST YOU ARE NOT INJURED, BUT STILL, I MUST CAPTURE YOU ANYWAYS!”

    “Papyrus,” Andromeda sighed, “listen, come talk to me for a minute here,” he waved him over, but didn’t expect him to budge, “I think you’ve got the wrong idea about this situation here, you know?”

    Papyrus was easy, much easier than those that Andromeda had encountered in the past. Most knights that come after him were already charging with swords swinging long before he could even open his mouth to speak. This skeleton was completely subdued by words. It wasn’t so much a miracle anymore that Papyrus actually strolled happily over to Andromeda with a simple hand gesture. There was no aggression between the two of them. Snowdrake was uncomfortable, but amazed at the same time that his friend had so much control over the situation.

    Andromeda motioned for Snowdrake to walk with the two of them as they started back on the path. He had to look up at Papyrus to talk to him, but he didn’t mind.

    “Let’s go for a walk, we’re headed for Snowdin, you wanna follow us there? You look like you could use some company,” Andromeda asked, knowing at this rate that Papyrus would accept the invitation.

    “I accept your offer, human, but first I must find my brother, Sans. He’s such a lazy bones, always sleeping on the job!” Papyrus replied. Snowdrake couldn’t believe what was happening.

    “Sans, huh?” Andromeda asked.

    Snowdrake tugged on his pant leg, “oh god please don’t, you don’t know what could happen if he shows--”, he tensed up at the sound of snow crunching behind him, “up…”

    “Hiya.”

    “SANS, THERE YOU ARE! I’VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU,” Papyrus shouted, making Andromeda’s ears ring.

    A much shorter skeleton around Snowdrake’s size stared at Andromeda with pitch black eye sockets. His bony hand was extended, waiting for him to shake it. As he did, Andromeda felt something touch the palm of his hand, followed by a “flllpppttttt” sound. It was a whoopie cushion, fantastic.

    “The ole’ whoopie cushion in the hand trick, gets em’ every time!” Sans said with a laugh. Two white wisps returned to act as his eyes.

    “SANS, HAVE YOU BEEN DOING NOTHING BUT PLAYING JOKES WHEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING FOR HUMANS?” Papyrus asked, blatantly forgetting that Andromeda was standing right next to him. Andromeda grinned and winked.

    “What, I found a human, didn’t I? He’s with you,” Sans replied, returning the wink.

    Andromeda giggled, “It’s solid logic Papyrus, I have no objections to that.”

    Snowdrake looked back and forth between his friend and Sans. Andromeda could tell that he was worried about something, but he felt that the situation wasn’t going to go bad as long as he played things cool. They were only talking, it wasn’t like he was looking for a fight anyways.

    “So you’re the ever elusive Sans, huh?” Andromeda asked playfully.

    Sans shrugged, “well what can I say, it’s hard to _snow_ where I am out here.”

    Papyrus shot Sans a look of death and grumbled. Andromeda couldn’t help but see how far he could push this.

    “ _Ice_ see, I mean I easily get lost out here, had Snowdrake not have helped me out.”

    Papyrus began to grow even more irritated.

    Snowdrake couldn’t resist and chimed in, “Yeah, the forest is so scary sometimes that it sends a _chill_ down my spine!”

    Papyrus screeched in anger and began to stomp away angrily. Andromeda called out to him, but Papyrus just waved him off and kept walking. At least nobody was getting captured today, not that he would let him.

    “So, you’re heading to Snowdin?” Sans asked.

    Andromeda nodded, “that was the plan. I’ve heard it’s just up ahead. I’m hoping we’ll be there soon, I’m starting to get cold out here.”

    Sans looked Andromeda over before asking, “you’re just starting to get cold? You must be chilled to the bone then.”

    Andromeda chuckled, “must just be the hypothermia setting in, I’ll be good to go once I get a stiff drink in me.”

    “Say, I know of a place you could get one. Grillby has a good selection of stuff, real stand-up guy. I think you might like him,” Sans said.

    A stiff whiskey was exactly what Andromeda needed, and not just to warm him up. This place was a weird home away from home for him, but he still wasn’t fully adjusted. He couldn’t fathom what else was up ahead for him if already he’s encountering skeletons that weren’t under the control of some external force. He wasn’t even willing to think about it anymore, he just needed to get warm.

    “Well, in that case, you wanna walk with us? We’re heading that direction and wouldn’t mind the company,” Andromeda asked, hoping that Sans would accept his invitation.

    “Sure, why not?” Sans replied.

    Andromeda still wanted to know more about who Chara and Asriel were. The photo that Toriel was holding in her hands was still fresh in his mind, still lingering in the shadows of his thoughts. The way that they smiled with each other was haunting to him. Did Sans know about them? He didn’t know if he wanted to bring it up, mostly because it was Toriel’s private life that he didn’t want to throw to the wind for everyone to know about. Instead he asked about the underground, and why everything down here was so drastically different from the surface. The explanation he received was probably one of his favorite explanations of how magic worked in their world. Everything there was made of some form of magic, and everything basically _was_ magic. He explained that each creature is magic that takes some form, and some other things about how magical evolution works. Andromeda was entirely seduced by this new way of life and magic that he could barely contain his excitement whenever he could plug in bits of his own knowledge. Sans was surprised by how much this new human knew about magic and sorcery. Andromeda was sure that the skeleton was doubting who he was, but at this point he could really care less. How many other humans were there to hide from at this point anyway? He’s already shown off pyromancy to two monsters already. There was still one question though regarding humans he wanted to know, who was the other one?

    A faint yellow glow radiated from the treetops up the road. It must be the town lights from Snowdin shining into the air. The only thing separating them from it was a large chasm with a rope bridge suspended over it. The way the bridge swayed in the breeze made Andromeda feel extremely uneasy, to the point of nearly not wanting to cross it right away. Rather than look like an ass in front of Sans and Snowdrake, he just held onto the rope and began to walk onto the planks. At least the bridge felt firm. It’s a long way down if the thing gives way. He estimated that it was at least a hundred or so feet before he’d hit anything, and he probably won’t be as lucky to land on a flower patch like he had before. The bridge creaked underneath their feet. Tiny puffs of snow fell from underneath the opposite side where the ropes rubbed it away.

    “This isn’t usually the way I go!” Snowdrake called from behind them.

    “Just hold on and everything will be fine, I’m not a fan of bridges either,” Andromeda called back. He noticed that Sans was crossing without even holding onto the sides. The sway was obviously not affecting him.

    Snowdrake and Andromeda couldn’t have been more relieved to step off of the bridge and onto solid ground once again. Sans took the lead and gave a “come on” motion with his fingers as he set off for the glow, which was now just beyond some trees. As the three of them emerged from the woods a sign to their left welcomed them to the promised land of Snowdin, a small little town that Andromeda wanted nothing more than to see for his own eyes. He wandered the street a bit, looking at the buildings that were around. He’d noticed an Inn that was connected to a small shop. He wanted to make that his first stop, after he got his drink of course.

    “Welcome to Snowdin!” Snowdrake called out as he flocked past Andromeda and Sans.

    “Yes, welcome to Snowdin,” he said to himself as he stared in wonder at the Christmas tree in the middle of town.

    Sans approached his left side and pointed to the only restaurant in town, Grillby’s.

    “Looks like that’s where we’re headed, huh?” He asked.

    Andromeda delightfully followed behind him, “you know it. I need a drink, bad.”


	5. Chapter 5

     “Hey Grillby, can I get a bottle of ketchup and-- what was it you wanted?”

Andromeda scanned over the various liquor bottles behind the bar. There were various spirits that he had never seen or heard of, and most others didn’t appeal to him. His eyes finally wandered to the top shelf, where he found what he was looking for, the only bourbon in stock. Feeling somewhat guilty, he tried to offer to open a tab for it so that he didn’t run Sans into a hole, but Sans was insistent that it was on him.

“I’ll take bourbon, please, neat with a waterback,” Andromeda said, his guilt still hovering over him.

Sans gave him a surprised, yet impressed look upon hearing him order something that strong. He popped the lid off of his ketchup and took a swig.

“What the-- what kind of ketchup is that?” Andromeda stammered with horror.

Sans looked over at him and chuckled, “What? You can drink straight whiskey, but it’s terrible if someone drinks ketchup? To each his own, right?”

He had a point, but still, ketchup? Straight ketchup? Maybe one bourbon wouldn’t be enough this time.

“Touche,” Andromeda replied, despite wanting to say more.

It had been a while since Andromeda had been in a bar. He usually avoided these types of places due to the atmosphere and crowds. There weren’t many patrons in that night, and whoever was there kept to themselves and went on with their business as usual. Out of habit, he still couldn’t help but look around to make sure nobody was trying to start anything.

After a brief pause in the conversation, Andromeda looked over at Sans and asked, “so, you live around here? It’s a pretty cozy little town, I really like the vibe it gives off.”

Sans nodded, “Just down the street. It’s the only two story house in town, you can probably find it by the banner we have hanging outside. Papyrus wanted to have it, so how could I say no?”

“So Papyrus is younger, I take it,” Andromeda stated.

“Yeah, not by much, but still,” Sans replied before taking another swig from the ketchup bottle.

Andromeda was having a hard time adjusting to Sans’ drink choice. To take his attention off of it, Sans asked, “What brought you to Mount Ebbot in the first place? Just out of curiosity.”

A dangerous question. There were really no other humans that would have a problem with him, does he tell Sans why he was really there? No, not yet. It wasn’t time. Skating around the question, he gave a half-assed excuse about hiking up the mountain and falling by accident. He could only hope that Sans didn’t bring the question up again.

“It’s just funny that a human would be able to use magic is all,” Sans added.

Shit, he’s pressing harder.

Andromeda took another sip of his drink, “Some are just born to use it I guess. I’ve known many humans who can do magic, it just kind of flows through them, you know?”

Yet another half truth. Sans’ questions made him extremely uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure how he was able to pick out sensitive topics, especially since he’d never met him before, but he found himself trying to answer more defensively than he would on a first encounter. He wasn’t sure what it was, but Sans  _ had _ to know something. At this point he just really wanted to get off of the topic of himself. These questions didn’t need answering yet.

Sans wasn’t buying anything that Andromeda was telling him, but between the two of them there was a sense about them of not wanting to start things roughly. Andromeda finished the rest of his drink and ordered another. He asked about Sans and what he was doing in Snowdin. Sans replied that he’d enjoyed the peace and quiet, and that there wasn’t much to do around town. People were relatively mellow and life was easy, just as he preferred it to be. He said that the only thing he really does is work around the guard’s outposts with his brother and end up at Grillby’s at some point during the day. The simple life, what more could one ask for? Andromeda wouldn’t mind it. Maybe for once he could get the rest of his life’s happenings off of his mind, even for five minutes.

Sans ordered himself another ketchup and inquired about how Andromeda managed to fall down Mount Ebbot. He refused to believe that it was a careless accident, but for the sake of conversation was willing to listen. At first Andromeda tried to play the “you won’t believe me” card, but Sans was persistent. Finally after some prodding, he told his side of the story.

“It was snowing, hard. The entire mountain was basically white. I can’t see shit as I’m trying to make my way up, I’m basically hiking on thin ice and using my sword as leverage so I didn’t go falling back down head over tai--,” he paused for a moment, “I mean head over heels. Once I’d reached the top I kind of made my way around the peak I guess, and I found a cave at the top which was surprisingly free of snow. Once I’d gotten further into it and found the hole that lead straight down here, I was going to try to find another way down, but something weird happened.”

Sans nodded along with his story. He wasn’t acting like he had any doubts about what he was hearing.

Andromeda sipped his drink before continuing, “so anyhow, something weird happens. As I’m standing there looking for a second, vines from below the ledge wrapped themselves around my ankles and pulled me straight down into the hole. It wasn’t a graceful lowering either, I basically went into freefall until the flower patch broke it. I don’t even know why I survived that to be honest, I’ve seen people fall off of walls way shorter than that with much worse injuries.”

“Did you happen to run into a flower as you were coming in?” Sans asked confidently.

Andromeda paused, stunned that he somehow knew this before he was even going to say it. His face told Sans everything he wanted to know.

“Uh, Flowey, right? That little bastard plant with a serious bloodthirst?”

With a nod, Sans replied, “yep. That’s the one.”

He also jokingly asked if he was still alive while pointing towards Andromeda’s longbow and sword he was carrying. To his surprise Andromeda said he spared him, but not without a warning shot first that nearly clipped his head. His reason was, “I had the opportunity, but something just told me not to do it. It seemed kind of low to shoot a flower, for some reason.”

Shortly after they had finished discussing the trip through Snowdin forest, Sans excused himself to ‘run an errand’. Andromeda shot him a confused glance, wondering why he was leaving so early, only for Sans to wink back at him with no further explanation. As he turned to walk towards the door, he looked back over his shoulder at his confused drinking partner and said, “get to know some people. Don’t be  _ draggin’ _ around and being all shy.”

Andromeda froze in terror.

_ There’s no way-- what did he just say? There’s no way he knows, he can’t, it’s impossible! _

His palms grew sweaty as he clutched the bourbon in his hand. He took a long sip of it before staring at the bar counter in utter shock. Grillby was finishing rinsing a glass and noticed him sitting shaky and silent..

“You alright?” He asked from across the bar.

Andromeda’s head instantly shot up, “Yeah, I’m fine! I uh, just kind of need a minute, hang on,” he stammered before making his way to the bathroom.

Once inside, he stood at the mirror and continually scanned over his disguised appearance for any signs that the spell was fading. He still looked as human as ever. Maybe it really was just a joke, and that Sans was just trying to make a pun. Maybe he was trying to get him to come out of his shell, it’s not like he could have known anything, right? He plucked and prodded his face to make sure his skin was not growing scaley. Then he looked at his eyes, which were still round and ‘normal’. He checked himself over to make sure he wasn’t transforming back without realizing it, but the spell was still holding strong. What made Sans ask something like that, even to word it the way he did? He took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, then rejoined the rest of the restaurant. His stomach was still in knots as he exited the bathroom.

_ Just keep calm, Andromeda. It’s going to be alright. Just don’t think about it, you’re reading too far into this. _

The first to notice his presence were two dogs dressed in what he thought were “grim reaper robes”. Two large battle axes lay leaned against the wall within arm’s reach, waiting to be brandished at a moment’s notice. The dog on the left whispered something to the one opposite of him before locking his gaze yet again on this unfamiliar human.

With an awkward wave, Andromeda tried to introduce himself. The two dogs exchanged curious glances, then both stood up to greet him. He shook both of their paws cautiously, hoping that they wouldn’t try to attack him two-on-one.

“So you must be the other human we’ve heard about,” the first dog said.

Andromeda’s breathing was shaky as he replied, “I guess I am. I haven’t seen the other one.”

The first dog introduced himself as Dogaressa, and showed interest in meeting this new individual before him. The other dog introduced herself as Dogamy and was equally as delighted to meet this new person as her partner was.

“So, tell us about yourself, you don’t look like you’re from around here at all. It’s not often that we see humans come through these parts,” Dogamy said with a joyous tone.

Andromeda couldn’t hear his heart in his ears anymore. He said, “I’m just passing through, for now. I wouldn’t mind settling down here though if life ever permits. I fell down here by accident, and it’s been one hell of a ride ever since.”

He felt a fin tap him on the shoulder from behind. He turned to see a fish in a faded yellow tanktop and the reddest lipstick he’d ever seen sitting on barstool holding some kind of cocktail in one fin and the other leaning towards his shoulder.

“Sorry to bother you, but did you say you were from the surface?” The fish asked.

Without hesitation, Andromeda replied that he was, and recounted the story somewhat to him. The fish seemed as interested as Dogamy and Dogaressa were in his story. He retold what happened again to this new listener. The fish never once broke her attention with him as he explained and joked about what happened. Andromeda didn’t think it was as much of a deal as it apparently was, but he wasn’t about to deny the attention he was getting. He just hoped that it wasn’t bad.

“Sounds like you’ve had a long trip, kid. What is it you’re drinking there, whiskey?” The fish asked.

Andromeda nodded and finished the rest of his drink before setting it back on the counter. He thanked the fish before gladly accepting his drink.

From across the restaurant someone else had taken notice to this new, fantastic tale. A short white bunny climbed out of the booth she was sitting in, nearly face planting on the floor as she stumbled to catch her footing.

“Oh my GOD! Did I just hear someone say they were from the SURFACE?” The rabbit slurred, clearly hammered.

_ Uh oh, this doesn’t look good. _

“I uh-- I came from there, yeah,” Andromeda sheepishly answered.

The bunny stared for a moment in drunken awe before climbing up into his lap and throwing her arms around his neck.

“I’ve never, EVER, been to the surface before. Tell me, what’s it like? Is it as AMAZING as you are?” She asked while simultaneously caressing him in front of the entire restaurant.

“Uh, I mean it’s okay, I guess,” Andromeda replied while shooting a worried glance towards Dogamy and pointing at his one way love interest.

The rabbit ran her fingers down Andromeda’s face, trying desperately to woo her new man with her drunken charm. He was having none of it. He swatted her hand away, but she had other ideas. She stroked the other side of his face while trying to make eye contact.

“Uh listen, I’m not into you like that,” Andromeda said as he plucked her from his lap and set her back on the floor.

The bunny let out an angry, defeated huff before sulking back to her booth without a word. Thank god that’s over. Dogaressa was trying not to laugh, but the look on Andromeda’s face finally sent him over the edge.

“Well that’s a first. She usually flirts with Sans, but I’ve never seen her try to climb someone before,” Dogamy said as she herself fought back tears of laughter.

Just as the conversation between the three of them had started to wind down, the bell on the front door jingled, alerting everyone to a new patron’s presence. Suddenly Andromeda felt as though he’d just been kneed in the gut.

“Oh shit,” he said under his breath.

Dogaressa turned to see what it was that Andromeda was worried about.

“Oh, Doggo? Bad encounter?” He asked.

The prank that he had pulled with Snowdrake back in the Snowdin forest replayed in his head. He remembered him running for his life, screaming about ghosts while they laughed. What were the odds that he would show up to the same bar as well? He told the couple about the joke he’d pulled. They looked at each other and laughed quietly to themselves before reassuring him that he would be fine, and that Doggo was more of a pushover than anything else.

Andromeda looked again before asking, “should I probably go apologize or something? Maybe buy him a drink and play the ‘sorry I scared the holy shit out of you I’m such a dick’ card?”

Dogaressa said with a grin, “you can if you want, just be sure to ask Grillby what he likes, because his orders don’t make a lot of sense to any of us.”

He got to his feet and walked over to the bar, still holding his glass. Andromeda pointed in Doggo’s direction and asked what it was that he usually drank, and that he would put it on a tab.

“Uh, one second,” Grillby replied.

He could hardly believe what was being poured into the glass. Club soda, vodka, some other kind of mixer, a brand of gin that he has never seen before, and another kind of liquor with fumes strong enough to burn his nostrils were all stirred together and topped with a cherry on a toothpick. What the fuck was this? He was tempted to try setting it on fire to see if it would burn. There was no way  _ anyone _ should drink this, but whatever, he wasn’t going to consume it. He stepped around a dog in a humongous suit of armor far larger than itself and tried to get Doggo’s attention.

“What, who’s there?” He asked skittishly.

“It’s uh… wait hang on,” Andromeda moved around in front of him so that Doggo could finally see him, “that better?”

Doggo’s eyes widened.

“Are you-- are you a human?” He stammered.

“Look, forget all of that. I just wanted to apologize for fucking with you back in the woods. It was just some fun gone too far. I ordered you a-- uh, whatever this is, I guess it’s what you drink according to Grillby,” Andromeda said as he handed Doggo the vile concoction of various liquors.

Doggo inspected the drink closely, probably seeing if it was tampered with. After he deemed it safe to drink, he took a drink of it before glaring back at Andromeda once more.

“So you were the one in the woods, huh? Well”, he looked down at the floor and scratched the back of his neck, “look, don’t do stuff like that. It’s a good way to get yourself killed around here, especially since we’re supposed to be on the lookout for your kind.”

Andromeda nodded, “duly noted. I just hope there’s no bad blood is all, you know?”

Doggo took a seat and lit a dog treat, “you know how to apologize, so I guess we’re alright. Just don’t go getting yourself into trouble. Asgore’s itching to get his hands on a soul like yours, and there’s already one human that’s gone through these parts. I just hope they’re alright.”

Doggo’s concern for the other human caught him off guard. When he and Snowdrake encountered him in the woods the first time, it seemed like a completely different situation with a very different Doggo than the one he’d just ordered for. For once Andromeda started to feel comfortable again, but not comfortable enough to reveal himself entirely. He still wondered where Sans had gone, and why the exit was so hasty. After what he’d said before he left, he wasn’t sure if he wanted him to come back.

Before he could turn to leave, Doggo called out, “hey you got a second?”

Andromeda turned and replied, “Sure, what’s up?”

Doggo offered him a treat as he pulled up a chair. He took it in his fingers and asked if you’re supposed to smoke it. He wasn’t surprised when Doggo pulled a lighter and offered to light the end of it. Guess there’s a first time for everything. The treat was salty in his lips, but he lit the end of it and took a drag, it shockingly enough wasn’t bad. As something that normally he would never give second thought to it he actually kind of liked it. He could taste hints of some kind of smoked meat, probably steak with hints of something else that gave it a hickory aroma. Smoking dog treats was the last thing he’d expected to find himself doing in a bar.

Doggo fetched a deck of playing cards from one of his pockets and began shuffling it on the table. “Care for a game?”

Not having much else to do, Andromeda took a drag and replied, “lay ‘em on me.” The much larger dog slid up to the table and patted it with an armored paw, waiting for his hand to be dealt. Dogamy and Dogaressa both closed in on the table as well, also waiting for the deal.

“Ever played poker before?” Doggo asked.

“Yeah, I’ve played a few times. I’m not amazing, but I’ve got the gist of it,” he answered as he took another drag from his impromptu cigar.

The poker games lasted for nearly two hours before Dogamy and Dogaressa finally called it quits. Andromeda was riding on a buzz of bourbon and dog treats, which Doggo had a seemingly endless supply of. The larger dog decided that it was time to head home as well, and gave a parting yip before following the couple out the door.

“Welp, looks like it’s just us, eh?” Doggo said as he lit up another treat.

Andromeda nearly spilled his drink trying to pick it up, “guess so. You sure do play mean poker, I’ve gotta give you that.”

Doggo laughed, “I’m still rusty. If this were a few years ago I’d still be a cardshark. I could never lose!”

Doggo asked what Andromeda was doing down in the Underground by himself, prompting him to repeat his story for the third time that night. He had to stop and think about what he was saying a few times because of the bourbon, but it made no difference to Doggo. The tale was still just as interesting as if he was sober telling it.

“So you just got dragged down here by some killer plant?” Doggo asked.

“Sort of-- I think, it was the vines. Vines-- they kind of just-- sprouted, or something,” Andromeda replied, or at least tried to.

Shortly after finishing his story the bell hanging above the door rang once again. Sans walked in with Papyrus following closely behind. The remaining patrons greeted Sans as he walked by while his brother waved squeamishly and smiled. He looked like he was out of place. Andromeda thanked Doggo for the card games, but before he could get up to leave Doggo handed him a pack of treats and a spare lighter. “On the house,” he said.

Sans noticed him stuffing the treats into his pocket as he made his way over to them.

“Never took you for a smoker,” he observed.

Andromeda waved the comment off, “It’s only a social thing. Normally I have a pipe, but I-- I sort of forgot it somewhere.”

“HUMAN, HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING?” Papyrus asked, trying not to be loud about it.

Sans made a “quiet down” gesture towards Papyrus as Andromeda replied with a simple “maybe”.

Andromeda asked Papyrus about the Royal Guard, and what it was that he was trying to do earlier when they’d first met. He could tell that Papyrus still had something on his mind, but he wasn’t going to say it right away. Papyrus started to explain that the Royal Guard would make him famous, and that everyone would love him. He wanted to be the ‘greatest Royal Guard that ever lived’. A few times during his explanation he insisted that he should be called ‘The Great Papyrus’, rather than his actual name. Sans and Andromeda exchanged glances a few times before Papyrus would notice and yell at them for not paying attention to him. Andromeda had managed to finish his drink before Papyrus had finished his story.

He held up his hand to interrupt him, “hold up Pap-- I need a drink really quick.”

Papyrus looked offended that he would dare cut him off to order something. Still, he waited patiently.

“Hey Papyrus, can I ask you a question?” Andromeda chimed in.

“Yes human, the Great Papyrus will answer any question you ask!” he replied.

Andromeda chuckled for a second, “I’d be careful about that. Anyways, I’ve noticed that most of the guards have a weapon of some sort. Do you fight with magic? What’s your combat style? Ranged, spears, swords?”

Sans’ worried expression made him wonder if the question wasn’t a good one to ask. Papyrus did say he would answer it, and he was determined to do so.

“Well, human, if you must know, I have been training with Undyne, captain of the Royal Guard, and I am still learning how to do it!” He said with confidence.

He wasn’t going to seek an actual answer to this. Andromeda was going to rely on Sans to tell him later. Papyrus asked the same question, then immediately tried to recoil as it didn’t seem like something he really wanted to know. Regardless, Andromeda unsheathed his longsword and displayed it on the counter.

“I go a lot of ways. This sword,” he ran his fingers over the runes inscribed into the steel of the blade, “it’s an enchanted sword that took me awhile to get my hands on.”

Sans peered at the runic inscriptions, unable to make out anything that they said. He could see his reflection in the steel.

“Do you ever worry about hurting yourself?” Papyrus asked, sounding concerned for Andromeda’s safety.

As he sheathed his sword again he replied, “not really. You kind of learn how to avoid accidents like that, both in training and the hard way.”

He unslung his longbow from his shoulder and handed it over to Papyrus, “that right there is my forte. Archery and magic together make a pretty dangerous combination if you know how to use them properly.”

The similar inscriptions on the bow’s arms fascinated Papyrus as he examined the beautiful wooden bow in his hands. He drew the bow back, and much to Andromeda’s surprise he knew how to hold it properly. The bend in his arm was the right angle so that the string wouldn’t snap hit his forearm upon release, and the draw itself was almost at the perfect length.

“Don’t dry fire that, you’ll snap the arms,” Andromeda warned before taking it back.

Papyrus handed the bow back, taking care not to damage it after being warned that it can break. Curious as to where he’d learned to draw the correct way, Andromeda asked about it.

“Oh, sometimes when Undyne and I would go to the capitol I would watch the archers practice with their bows. I kept practicing myself, even though I didn’t have one,” Papyrus explained.

Sans took a drink of ketchup, then turned to Papyrus and said, “I didn’t know you had a thing for bows and arrows, bro. Ever ask Undyne about it?”

Papyrus looked down at the bar, his once happy expression now turned one of gloom, “I have tried, but she said that it takes a lot more practice than she can give me.”

Andromeda’s eyes lit up immediately upon hearing him say that. If he wanted to learn archery, who better to teach him that one who served for a royal military himself? He nearly bounced off of the bar stool when he’d said that he would be willing to show him a few pointers if he really wanted to learn how it’s done.

“Wowee! Would you really?” Papyrus asked. The hope and joy had returned.

Sans got in between the two of them, “hold on now Pap, don’t you think you should probably think about this first? Just because he has a bow doesn’t mean he could teach you everything you want to know,” he stated.

Andromeda shot him an angry glare, “What do you mean by that? I can give a demonstration if you’d like to know more,” he defended.

“I’m just saying it’s probably something he should see you do first before he knows if he wants to try it or not,” Sans replied, trying not to spark a fight.

Andromeda settled down once more, “alright, then I guess I can do a demonstration later. I’ll need something to shoot at, but I don’t think that will be much of a problem. Papyrus, you should probably rest up, we’ll be heading out early.”

“I SHALL LEAVE AT ONCE HUMAN. I WILL BE SEEING YOU TOMORROW BRIGHT AND EARLY!” Papyrus shouted with his finger in the air before hastily exiting the front door for good.

“Guess that’s the last we’ll be seeing of him,” Sans remarked.

Andromeda took a sip of his drink and set it back on the counter. With Sans now alone, he tried to muster the courage to ask him how he knew he wasn’t really human. The problem he was faced with was if Sans truly didn’t know and he accidentally outed himself. He could still remember the joke he’d told before he left, there was no way that it was accidental, it just couldn’t have been. It was too well directed at him that someone couldn’t just say something like that without knowing about him beforehand. He knew that Sans liked puns, but this was on a much deeper level.

“Uh, you alright?” Sans asked, having noticed him staring at the bar counter for far too long.

He lifted his head and looked at Sans with visible anxiety, “yeah, I’m alright. I just-- I just have to ask you something, but I don’t want to fuck up if you didn’t know this…”

Sans waited with alarming patience. Finally, the question was out, “How did you know I wasn’t human?”

For a second there was nothing but silence between them. Sans just looked on casually, because to him it didn’t look like it was a huge deal. Andromeda knew he’d just told him his most personal secret and was afraid he would shout it to the entire bar, even though by this time they were they only two there. Finally, he spoke.

“So you caught the pun, huh?” he asked.

Andromeda’s hands began to shake, “I did. I know  _ exactly _ what you meant by that, and I want to know how you figured it out. I didn’t want anyone here to know at all.”

He took a swig of ketchup before answering, “listen, you would have been better off not going as a human down here. Asgore is looking for human souls to break the barrier, and there’s already one down here as it is. You’re putting yourself in more danger by not being yourself than you think,” he took another drink, “But if you are curious to know I figured you out, watch this.”

Sans’ right eye began to glow bright blue, with only his pupil still darkened. Grillby noticed and was becoming more nervous as Sans was demonstrating his ability.

“I can see right through you with this eye. There’s not a lot you can hide if you’re using magic to disguise yourself. Not all of us can do this, but you’re not fooling all of us either.”

It made sense. Andromeda had a similar ability that he used in the presence of any spiritual energy. He was still trying to learn the other ways of using his Arcane Sight spell, with varying amounts of success. Sans must have been the one following him through Snowdin forest and peering through him with this eerily similar ability.

Sans winked at Andromeda and asked, “so with that horrifying question out of the way, what do you really look like?”

This could get interesting. If he wasn’t the only human down there now, he may just be the only dragon there to his knowledge. Regardless, the gig was up, and there was no turning back now. He could always say no, but it was no use at this point. Sans knew, Grillby knew just by being there, and since they were the only two in the bar, what damage could it do as long as nobody walked by?

“Fine, hang on. This stays between the three of us, it may be dangerous to be a human but I have other reasons for not going like this that I’d rather not talk about,” Andromeda said as he set his sword, bow and quiver up on the bar.

He walked to the most open part of the restaurant and stood with his back to Grillby and Sans. Both of them watched in bewilderment at what they were about to see. Suddenly a white light wrapped itself around Andromeda’s entire body. The glow was almost blindingly bright and Grillby had to shield his eyes. His form grew nearly half a foot taller than it was before. His neck became longer, and his head was no longer as round as it once was. His tail returned to its original position, hanging freely behind him. Finally, his transformation was complete. Standing before them was a dragon with ivory horns on his head and gray skin, nothing like the 6’1’’ male human that they’d gotten to know only hours before.

“There, you happy?” Andromeda said as he turned around, arms outstretched.

“Wow, what can I say? You really  _ tipped the scales _ with your appearance,” Sans said.

Andromeda just rolled his eyes. As paranoid as he may be, it felt good to be back in his own body for once. Now he was worried about it staying a secret. He could only trust that Sans and Grillby wouldn’t out him for any reason. If there was something he’d understood about bartenders though, it was that they were the keepers of secrets, to an extent of course.

“It’ll be a while before I can cast the spell again, it’s draining to go back and forth. I guess this is what I’ll look like for the time being. Don’t get used to it though,” Andromeda said before sitting back down at the bar.

“I like the new look, personally,” Grillby complimented.

Suddenly Andromeda’s heart sank when he heard the bell above the front door ring. He froze in place, staring at Sans and hoping he could give him an out in the situation. It was Doggo.

“Uh, hey-- Doggo…” Andromeda said in a low, almost shame-filled tone.

“Hey uh, wait, Andromeda is that you?”

Andromeda simply nodded his head.

__ _ Oh god, no... _

Doggo sat on the bar stool next to him. Searching him all over, he couldn’t find any trace of the human he’d been playing cards with earlier. It was a lucky guess that he’d known it was him.

“You didn’t know either, did you?” Andromeda asked, still trying not to hide his face from him.   
Doggo looked on at him sympathetically, “how would I have known? You don’t have to keep hiding though like a frightened pup, what’s wrong with being what you are?”

There was no way out of this. He was in too deep to turn back now, but they had to know. He needed to have someone he could trust to keep this a secret if he was planning on remaining human as long as he could. This would be painful to bring up again, but he had no choice.

“Hey Grillby, get us a drink, will you, on me? I’ve got a story to tell. Hope you have the time, because it’s not short.”

Grillby quickly prepared the drinks while they waited for Andromeda to start. Before he handed them over, Andromeda stopped him and asked for a shot to go with his. Grillby felt that the story coming would require one. He handed Andromeda his bourbon and a shot of vodka on the house. The vodka burned the back of his throat on the way down, but it was refreshing at the same time. He knew he needed it. He retrieved one of the dog treats that Doggo had given him earlier and lit it up. After a long drag, he started to talk.

“So I’m going to tell you guys a story of where I’m actually from. How I got to this world doesn’t really matter, but it’s what happened before that’s why I don’t trust people with this form. When I was younger, probably in human years about 18 or 19, I was conscripted into the King’s service by my adoptive father. I didn’t want to go, I just didn’t have it in me to fight in a war that should never have happened to begin with.”

Andromeda took a sip of his drink before continuing.

“I unfortunately watched the fall of any kinship between dragonkind and mankind. I watched it from the front lines of a battlefield. Long ago, in the land of Soriendal, many races lived together peacefully. Humans were kind of everywhere, but there were other races as well. You had the wolf clans in the northern Snowcrest mountains, while you had the saurians to the west. There were more as well, I mean really looking at a lot of animals on the surface I was surprised to see that there weren’t more evolved forms of them. Anyhow, dragons, like humans, were also kind of all over the place. The mostly stayed high in the mountains, minus the few that would settle somewhere close to a village. The thing is, unlike what you would imagine would happen with a dragon living right outside of town, more often than not they helped each other out. Not all dragons were bastards, I mean you had those who deliberately fucked things up because they could, but they also didn’t last long even in dragon communities as well. There was a code of honor to be upheld, and we took it seriously.”

He took another drag from the lit treat hanging out of his mouth. Doggo, Sans and Grillby were completely drawn into him.

“Well, like Sans had told me in the woods as we were coming here, monsters weren’t the only ones who were on the receiving end of humanity’s dickish ways. I honestly don’t know how this came to be, but soon humans started to distrust dragonkind, and it wasn’t even dragons that got this treatment, it was  _ everyone _ . Hell even their own sorcerers started getting exiled when the kings got jealous of their abilities. So not long after all of this happened, maybe a few years or so, there are talks of a war that could break out. Dragons from around the world are thinking, ‘what the fuck, they’re not serious right? After all we’d helped them with?’ Believe me, I thought the same thing. Sure enough, it starts with the raids of villages where dragons were known to live, at least dragonkin. This-- this was how I lost my family.”

He took a swig of his bourbon. The pain that he had felt with Toriel was coming back. His heart felt heavy in his chest, and he wanted to stop, but he couldn’t. He needed them to know. After regaining his composure, he continued on.

“Anyways, so my town was raided, in fact it was one of the first ones to be raided. Great fucking luck, right? The only reason I ended up surviving the attack was because I had hid in a small crawl space that was really hard to see with the furniture in the way. Mind you, I was a child when this all went down. So here I am, my dreams of going to a mage's college to learn magic basically went up in smoke along with my home, and I now have nothing left. For a while I fucking hated humanity, I had it out for them. Over time though, I really got to thinking, why did they do this? What were they afraid of? Unfortunately it’s been a long road to finding this answer, and to this day I still don’t know. So why am I uneasy with humans, or really anyone knowing my true form? Well, it’s simple, because they’re not ready to see my kind again. I’ve always been met with extreme prejudice, racist remarks in public, and general disdain. Non-humans have no issue with me, which is refreshing, but it doesn’t help when humans are still a vast majority of every population in the land.”

Andromeda looked over at Sans, who sat in silence trying to process what he’d just been told. Behind him he heard Doggo mutter a very somber, “wow…”

“I-- I had no idea that monsters weren’t alone in this,” Grillby added, himself in somewhat shock.

Andromeda finished the rest of his drink and looked down at the floor.

“You know, the thing is that I still don’t really harbor hatred for anyone. Despite the fact that yeah, a very large majority of them did this, there still has to be  _ some  _ good in them, right? I mean is it a bad thing to be optimistic in the face of all of that? I just-- hope not…”

Sans put his arm around him and said, “you sound just like Papyrus. He’s always looking for the good in people. It’s a big reason why Undyne doesn’t want him in the Royal Guard. He just wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Still counting the boards on the floor, Andromeda replied, “I don’t want to be a dick, but I hope he doesn’t make it. I kind of want him to learn, for his own sake, but he should be a knight of his own beliefs, and not for someone else’s. I haven’t known him that long, but I just-- there’s something about him that I can’t see ever raising a blade against someone else. I will be willing to teach him how to fight, but I want him to understand that the pain of having someone’s blood on your hands is something you can never just wash away. Blood stains more than just your skin and armor…”

Andromeda felt Doggo’s paw resting on his shoulder. He looked at him, ashamed of what he’d become. He felt disgusted to have let his guard down. The pain in his heart wasn’t anyone else’s to bear, and it just made him feel vulnerable, just like the fateful night that took everything from him. He wanted to do it all over again, but he will never get that chance. He took a deep breath and fought to regain his composure. There was still something lingering in the back of his mind that he wanted to know about.

“Hey Sans?” He asked, still looking at the floor.

Sans removed his arm so Andromeda could sit up straight again, “What’s up, buddy?”

“Who were Chara and Asriel?”

Immediately Doggo’s ears perked up. Sans’ eyes disappeared, leaving behind only dark, empty eye sockets.

“Wha-- what were those names again?” He asked.

He didn’t know whether or not to repeat them again. This wasn’t the reaction he was expecting from Sans, but he especially didn’t think Doggo would know who they were enough to react at all.

Grillby interjected from across the bar, “you mean the Dreemur children?”

So it was true, Chara was adopted into the Dreemur family. But why did Sans react like he did?

“Everything alright, Sans?” Andromeda asked.

Sans took three large gulps from the ketchup bottle before calming down enough to talk to him again.

“Yeah, just fine. Let’s not bring those names up again though.”

In a cautious tone, Doggo added, “Let’s just say that one of those names leaves a bad taste in the mouth.”

The thought of one of the kids killing the other floated through Andromeda’s mind as he tried to contemplate why there would be such hard feelings towards them. Was it one of them that they didn’t like, or both? Was it because she was human? That was something the dragon himself knew all too well. One thing was certain, it wasn’t something that was to be brought up again anytime soon. He’ll just have to find another way to learn more about the two siblings some other time. He apologized for bringing back any dark memories and asked what he owed. Sans immediately cut him off and said he’d cover it.

“Sans, what are you do--”

He raised his hand to interrupt, “it’s fine, I’ll cover it. You have more to worry about than a bar tab.”

Grillby groaned when he heard Sans say he’d cover Andromeda’s tab, even if it wasn’t that much. Sans had a bad habit of not paying them, but still Grillby begrudgingly served him. As Andromeda got up to get ready to leave, Sans stopped him and asked if he had a place to stay. When he said no, he offered that he could sleep on the couch if he wanted, even if it wasn’t amazingly comfortable. He graciously accepted the offer. It beats sleeping in the snow anyday. He apologized once again for the scene he caused, and that he wasn’t planning on it happening.

“Hey, it happens, we all have our down days, ya know?” Doggo replied.

He gave him a warm smile before giving him a farewell shake.

“Thanks, It definitely helps. Sorry for what happened in the woods, by the way,” Andromeda replied.

As Sans and Andromeda left Grillby’s, Sans asked how he knew about Chara and Asriel. Andromeda had failed to explain that Toriel had shown him a picture of them and explained a little bit beforehand about who they were. She didn’t go into much depth, but it was also how he learned that Toriel was the queen of the underground living in solitude from Asgore. He also said that he’d given her a tiny fragment of his soul as a parting gift, so that she may know how he’s doing as long as the ember within the vial still burns. He could tell that Sans was making mental notes of what he was saying, he just hoped that it wasn’t for a bad reason. It was probably better if he’d never even brought them up in the first place, but now wasn’t the time to regret it. 

“Look, about back there, I didn’t mean to scare ya like that. It’s just, well, there’s some other problems that have happened in the past that still haven’t really been ‘fixed’, you know?” Sans said apologetically.

Andromeda nodded in agreeance with him, “I hadn’t intended to divulge my life to everyone there, but shit happens I guess. Just-- let’s not tell Papyrus about this, not yet at least. We’ve got a big day ahead of us, and I can’t even tell what time it is to be honest. The lack of sunlight’s starting to mess with me.”

Sans looked puzzled, “sunlight?”

_ Wait, what? You don’t know what sunlight is? _

“Uh, yeah, the bright yellow ball in the sky-- oh, right, sorry…”

_ Way to go, dickhead. _

They’d finally arrived at the only two story house in town. As Sans had said, the skull banner had greeted them from the second floor, hanging motionless. As they stepped up onto the porch Sans stopped for a moment.

“Look, before you say anything, you can stay as long as you need to. I know you’re here for a reason, and I don’t want to just leave you out to freeze. If you want to know more about the Underground, I can tell you about it tomorrow. Get some sleep and try to figure things out before Papyrus wakes up. He’ll be excited to have you teach him archery.”

“Thanks, Sans. I won’t be a bother, I’ll try to be gone as soon as I can,” Andromeda replied.

“Don’t worry about it. It might be nice to have some new company anyways. Welp, let’s get inside, we’re gonna chill to the bone, otherwise.” 

He hadn’t been so happy to see a couch in his life. Now that the secret was out somewhat, he felt some solace in the fact that someone else had seen what he truly looks like. As Andromeda lie on the couch, he stared at the ceiling, thinking. Thinking about everything that had lead up to this point, everything that he had gone through in his life. Thoughts of Asriel and Chara still lingered on his mind, but it was too sore of a topic to bring up now. He wasn’t about to make that mistake again. The more he thought about it, he barely remembered what it was he had come searching Mount Ebbot for in the first place. He knew what the source of the magic was now, but somehow he felt that there was something he needed to do. Maybe it was destiny, hell, who knew at this point? Everything was such a mess, he wouldn’t have expected to have had it figured out by now. Still, even with Toriel, what brought him here? Was it fate? With so many questions on his mind, Andromeda finally decided that it was best if he threw them to the wind and tried to get whatever rest he could. He couldn’t tell what time it was, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before Papyrus was bounding down the stairs like a child on Christmas to wake him up for his first archery lesson. As he lay slowly drifting into sleep, he smiled. For once, he was happy again. This is what real happiness felt like.


	6. Chapter 6

_ Thump, Thump! _

“SANS!”

Andromeda’s eye fell partially open.

“SANS!, I CANNOT FIND MY SCARF! HAVE YOU SEEN IT?”

Guess it was time for him to get up. He wasn’t going back to sleep with Papyrus screaming across the house.

He propped himself up on the couch with his elbow. His tail slouched onto the floor as he rolled over to try and drown out the ear-piercing skeleton upstairs.

“SANS, WHERE IS MY-- OH, NEVERMIND, I FOUND IT. ARE YOU NOT GOING TO WAKE UP AND HAVE BREAKFAST? YOU MUST NOT GO HUNGRY!”

_ Oh god Papyrus, please stop screaming… _

The throbbing pain in his temples reminded him of the night he had before, if it even was night at all. His pain was made worse by the muted television set constantly flashing in front of his eyes. The taste of whiskey and dog treat smoke still lingered in his breath. In his groggy state Andromeda tried to get to his feet without falling over. Papyrus’ voice was like a screwdriver grating against his ear drums. By now he had completely forgotten that he wasn’t human anymore. In his hung-over misery he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit, either.

Papyrus stopped at the top of the stairs as he found himself in the presence of a stranger in his home. Andromeda was refastening his sword to his side when he noticed him watching from above. As the two stared dumbly at each other Andromeda couldn’t help but wonder if he had told Papyrus about his true form.

“Hu-- human? Is that you?” Papyrus asked, his only clue being the longbow that lie propped against wall next to the front door.

He shifted the sword to his side, still wondering what to say. What was there to say, anyways, it’s not like Papyrus was blind. After a brief pause for thought, he replied, “yeah, Papyrus, it’s me.”

Papyrus slowly inched his way down the stairs. He’d still remembered that he had an archery lesson that morning, but he was having trouble bringing himself to ask about it. Andromeda did it for him when he’d asked, “ready to go? I think I remember a spot we could try shooting at.”

“Hey bro, you ready to go?” Sans asked as he exited his room in only a tank top and the same black shorts and fuzzy slippers he’d always worn.

“I AM ALWAYS READY, SANS!” Papyrus exclaimed as he bounded the rest of the way down the stairs and towards the front door, nearly taking Andromeda out in the process.

“Hey hold on a second Papyrus,” Andromeda said before he could get out the door.

He stopped, “what is it hu-- er…”

“Andromeda, and don’t go announcing to everyone who I am. I’d like to keep my human identity a secret, in case I ever need it again here. Sound good?”

A look of confidence formed in Papyrus’ eyes as he replied with as much gusto as he could, “THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN ALWAYS KEEP A SECRET! FEAR NOT, ANDROMEDA, YOUR SECRETS ARE SAFE WITH ME!”

“Oh god Papyrus,” Andromeda muttered under his breath as he followed him out the door with his longbow in hand. Behind him he could hear Sans chuckle.

People waved at Papyrus as he and Andromeda strolled through the only street of Snowdin looking for a makeshift archery range. He couldn’t help but laugh when Papyrus suddenly ran up to the town Christmas tree and began to frantically search through the presents underneath in hopes that his name was on one.

“Whatcha doing down there?” Andromeda asked as he stood by idly.

Papyrus looked up at him from beneath the tree with shock on his face.

“YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT PRESENTS? EVERYONE IN SNOWDIN KNOWS THAT SANTA CLAUS BRINGS THEM PRESENTS, HOW ELSE DO YOU THINK THEY GET UNDER THE TREE?”

A light-hearted giggle escaped him as Andromeda watched Papyrus accidently roll on his side trying to check the gifts placed further against the tree. When a present with his name on it finally emerged Papyrus picked himself up from the ground and jumped joyfully shouting “WOWIE” as loud as he could. There was no quieting this giant bony child down, and people were starting to notice. Some would smile and continue on while others watched with confusion.

“Hey Papyrus, you wanna keep going? I thought we had a lesson to do,” Andromeda asked, trying to calm him and avoid further embarrassment.

“OH, YES WE DO HAVE A LESSON!” He shouted in Andromeda’s face.

_ Why did I agree to this? _

__ “We do Papyrus, now let’s keep going so we can get started,” Andromeda replied while trying to ignore his headache pounding against his forehead.

Papyrus suddenly spun on his heels with his signature finger-in-air “aha!” pose, “HU-- DRAGON, I KNOW OF A PLACE WHERE WE CAN PRACTICE!”

“Papyrus can we please not scream?” Andromeda pleaded, “I’ve got a headache that’s killing me right now.”

“YOUR HEAD IS--”

Andromeda shot him a death glare before he could finish screaming his question into his ear.

“Sorry,” Papyrus muttered like a child being scolded.

“Anyways, where was this place you had in mind?” Andromeda asked while furiously rubbing his temples.

Papyrus started to walk in the direction of his house while motioning for him to follow. As they walked by the living room window Andromeda could see Sans watching them with his signature bony grin. Andromeda smiled as he was being lead by Papyrus his exciting new location. The snow around them began to turn into stone as they entered a new part of the Underground Andromeda hadn’t yet seen. Crystals embedded into the cavern walls glistened as they walked past. Glowing mushrooms lit the path ahead of them while bubbling water reverberated around them. The babbling streams helped ease the throbbing in his forehead.

“Where are we?” Andromeda asked in bewilderment.

Papyrus spun around and began to walk backwards, “We are going to Waterfall! I happen to love this place because of the calm waters, of course! Perhaps you’ll love it too.”

Andromeda rubbed his head and replied, “I already am.”

As they ventured further down the path Andromeda noticed another guard’s post situated in an alcove to their left. Sans was talking to some sort of goldfish-like monster with a glass bowl around its torso when they both noticed them arriving.

“Oh, heya,” Sans said from behind the counter.

“Hiya!” The fish added with a bucktoothed grin.

Andromeda’s eyebrow nearly shot to the ceiling, “Sans-- is that-- how did you get here so fast?” he stammered.

“Shortcuts,” he said.

“Sans knows all of the shortcuts around the underground!” Papyrus declared with pride.

Andromeda couldn’t see any way that Sans would have gotten ahead of them without he or Papyrus noticing him, but then again, he also had no idea where he even was. If there was a secret tunnel somewhere he would probably never know. They made idle small talk while Andromeda tried to figure out where it was that Papyrus was leading them. Finally he had to ask.

Sans looked up at his brother from the booth and asked, “you still haven’t been practicing? You’re really shooting blanks here with the ideas, aren’t ya?”

Papyrus groaned audibly at both Sans’ joke and Andromeda laughing at it.

“Well maybe if you weren’t such a lazy bones you could help us find one!” Papyrus shot back, proud of his quick-witted comeback.

“I don’t know, bro, maybe I can put some  _ arrows _ up to point you in the right direction,” Sans replied, poking fun at his brother once again. Andromeda was starting to crack up.

“Ssssssannnsssssss…” he growled.

Andromeda managed to stifle his laughter long enough to interject, “okay kids, come on. Sans if you know of a place, would you wanna show us? Anywhere where there’s a little distance to set up a target?”

Sans curled his fingers and pretended to admire his non-existent nails as he said, “I might, wanna know a shortcut?”

Part of him didn’t want to know what this ‘shortcut’ was that Sans was talking about. He could have done without the false-attitude. Cautiously, he replied that he did want to know, hoping that he wasn’t going to get suddenly thrown from where he was standing by some divine act of telekinesis.

Sans winked and walked around the side of the guard post.

“Stand close.”

Andromeda blinked, and before his eyes could fully open again he found himself standing on unfamiliar ground. What once was soft soil and moss covered stones had literally in the blink of an eye turned to loose cobblestones beneath his feet. The guard post was gone, the fish person standing with Sans was gone, and area was much more open than before. Bright-blue mushrooms softly illuminated the clearing ahead of them, conveniently lighting the way for an ideal archery range.

“The hell was that?” Andromeda asked, still trying to figure out how they got there as quickly as they did.

Sans chuckled, “a shortcut of course.”

Papyrus lifted Sans like a small child under his armpits, “How do we get out of here?!”

“Don’t worry bro, we’re not far from where we started,” Sans explained, trying to appease his brother so he could be put down.

“I hope so, I just keep getting lead further into this rabbit hole,” Andromeda remarked.

Papyrus was itching with anticipation to start the archery lesson. He practically pushed Sans aside after setting him down to get over to his teacher. The only problem was that they hadn’t thought thought to bring targets. Of course, that wouldn’t be an issue, though none but Andromeda had realized it yet.

“So what are you guys going to shoot at?” Sans asked, curiously.

“Good question… I’ve got an idea,” Andromeda said as he knelt down and put one hand on the ground beneath him.

Papyrus looked on in wonder at what it was the dragon had planned.

“Are you going to build a target out of dirt? I don’t think we have time for that,” Papyrus asked.

Frost began to form beneath Andromeda’s palm as he turned to look back at the skeleton, “nah,” freezing air puffed from his nostrils, “I’ve got a better idea. Let’s hope it’s not too solid.”

He suddenly rose from his knee and thrust his hand into the air. Gusts of freezing wind followed behind a briskly travelling cluster of frozen crystals. When the icy mass had gotten far enough away he pulled his arm back down and clenched his fist. Dirt and stones sailed through the air as three giant crystalline prisms exploded up from the ground. Cold mist gently pooled around them on the cave floor like cloudy waterfalls.

Sans stared at the new targets in amazement, “...wow, guess you found something.”

Andromeda loosed an arrow at the makeshift targets, expertly sticking one into the center crystal. Before handing off the bow to Papyrus he asked what he remembered the archers doing as they drew their shots. Papyrus pantomimed adjusting his feet and standing laterally to his target whilst holding the longbow arm out towards it. He then pulled an imaginary arrow, drew and fired it downrange.

Andromeda inspected his stance, checking for proper foot positioning and making sure that Papyrus’ legs were spread at the right distance. Everything seemed to check out, even his front foot was pointed towards his intended target. His arms were bent just enough that the string wouldn’t snap back on them when the bow was released, and his finger was pointed to help guide his aim.

“You’re good at observing, I’ll give you that. Think you can hit the ice blocks down there with an actual arrow?” Andromeda asked as he handed him his longbow.

Papyrus held the bow in his hands, looking at it as if it were made of glass.

“I-- I think I can!” he exclaimed as Andromeda handed him an arrow to fire.

Papyrus knocked the arrow onto the string and drew back the bow with relative ease. The long bow's draw weight took even Andromeda a while to get used to, which impressed him further. With the arrow now in place, it was up to Papyrus to make his shot. With his right eye focused sharply on the three frozen masses ahead of him, he pointed his finger at the center one. Everything was silent. Nothing stood between Papyrus and his target now, he just needed to let the string go and the bow would do the rest.

“You’ve got this, Pap. You know where it wants to go, just help it along,” Andromeda quietly coaxed from behind.

The string rolled off of Papyrus’ gloved fingers. The arrow flew from the bow in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately due to the low lighting of the range, nobody could tell if he had hit his mark or not.

“Did I miss?” Papyrus asked, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Andromeda waved for him to follow as he started downrange to find his arrow. It didn’t take them long before he had noticed it protruding from the dirt just short of the crystal.

“Let’s try again, but this time aim just a little bit higher than you did before,” Andromeda advised before walking back to where they had started.

The next shot Papyrus made landed slightly right of his intended mark. He was starting to waver in his aim, moving the bow further and further away from his target with each draw. Andromeda could tell his frustration was getting the best of him, and tried to encourage him to focus and breathe. Finally, six shots later, the arrow landed on target. When Papyrus realized what he’d done he could hardly contain his excitement. He threw his hands up triumphantly as he did a victory dance in place, much to his brother’s amusement.

“Nice shot pap! I knew you could do it!” Andromeda praised as he returned with the arrows.

“You’re doing great, bro!” Sans cheered from the background.

Papyrus shot three more arrows. His accuracy was improving at an impressive rate. The spread of each arrow as they hit the ice crystals was becoming tighter with each shot. Andromeda couldn’t shake the feeling that Papyrus had done this before; his shooting was improving far too quickly for a beginner. The next shot Papyrus made was very close to the center of the three arrows that were already on target. Suspicions aside, his archery was damn impressive for someone shooting for the first time.

“You learn quick Papyrus, there wasn’t much I had to tell you and you were pretty on target with these shots,” Andromeda said, hoping to encourage him enough to pull more performance out of him.

“SANS, DO YOU HEAR THAT?! ANDROMEDA IS PROUD OF ME!” Papyrus screamed with glee.

The remaining arrows in the quiver hit close to their intended marks, just as Andromeda had hoped would happen. The fact that Papyrus could still remain calm and collected while drawing the arrow only added to his success. Where it was that Papyrus had shot a bow before still lingered in his brain, but Andromeda really wanted to know why he had never been allowed to use this skill before. After the incident with bringing up Chara and Asriel he wasn’t sure if it was safe to ask Sans. There was not as much coaching needed to help Papyrus figure out what he was doing wrong. He was practically defying all expectations.

“Hey Papyrus, mind if I make a shot real quick?” Andromeda asked as Papyrus went to draw the last arrow.

He handed the bow over to him, “Please do! I would love to see how the amazing Andromeda shoots!”

_ Amazing Andromeda…? That’s a new one. _

“Let’s see if I can’t break the crystal with this last arrow, think I can do it?” he challenged.

Papyrus watched the frozen targets closely as Andromeda readied the final arrow in the quiver. The arrow head began to radiate a white light with the intensity of a lightbulb. A soft humming filled the air just before Andromeda released the string. The arrow released a shockwave strong enough to kick up dust from the ground. The center crystal shattered like a jar hitting a stone floor. Chunks of ice flew in all directions, slamming into the cavern walls with enough force to knock chunks of rock loose. The other two crystals sustained minimal damage despite the explosion that occurred directly next to them.

“You have magical arrows, too?” Papyrus asked out of both surprise and slight shock.

Andromeda nodded with a sly grin, “not really the arrows, it’s how you shoot them.”

“Magic arrows, huh?” Sans asked, “What other shots can you make?”

He answered with a sly smile, “we’ll cover that in a bit.”

Andromeda handed the bow back to Papyrus. He was determined to teach him  _ something _ that day, even if it had to be an impromptu spell-casting lesson. He turned to Sans, who was eagerly awaiting to see what was to unfold next now that Papyrus had the bow again.

“How good is Papyrus with magic?” Andromeda asked.

“He’s pretty good I’d say,” he replied with a wink and thumbs-up.

“Show me.”

Papyrus joyfully summoned orange-tinted bones all around him. He directed them towards the range and formed the words “COOL DUDE” out of them. Andromeda couldn’t help but laugh.

“A cool spell for a cool dude, I’d say,” he remarked while watching Papyrus make new shapes.

Papyrus dropped them out of the air as he stated, “Only the coolest spell by me, the Great Papyrus!”

Andromeda handed him his longbow, “turn one into an arrow. Let’s see how fast they can go.”

Papyrus took aim and drew back the bow with no arrow in it. Sans and Andromeda watched on eagerly. It took a moment, but an orange glow began to take a linear shape as it knocked itself onto the drawn string. A bone with a sharp point materialized from within the aura and rested itself on Papyrus’ stretched finger. He loosed the makeshift arrow, watching as it shattered against the left standing ice crystal.

“Little brittle, huh?” Sans asked.

Papyrus’ shoulders drooped in disappointment.

“Eh, it happens, just have to reinforce it if you shoot another one,” Andromeda reassured him.

Papyrus handed him his bow back and asked what other types of arrows he could shoot. Finally, a chance to show what he can really do. Andromeda knocked an arrow into the bow and set it on fire. He loosed a fireball from the end of his bow, scorching the ground from his feet to the end of the range.

“Wowie! How did you do that?!” Papyrus asked, nearly leaping in the air with excitement and surprise.

Feeling bad for leaving Sans out, he offered for him to shoot the bow as well. Sans’ height was an issue, since the bow was easily taller than he was. Even if he could lift the bow properly, drawing it back would be another mission entirely. Expectedly he declined and insisted that it was more entertaining to watch he and Papyrus practice with it. He was enjoying his brother’s excitement with it anyways. As he was going to draw another shot, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye that made him lower it immediately. Someone looking vaguely like a human was passing by a space in the wall that he hadn’t noticed before. Papyrus had noticed it too, and his reaction to it only further raised suspicion amongst everyone.

“Was that what I thought it was?” Andromeda asked, still looking at the same spot.

Papyrus shuffled for a moment before half-heartedly replying, “I-- I don’t know what you mean. It must have been a crystal or something.”

Something wasn’t right here. Papyrus couldn’t tell a lie to save his life, and what it was that passed by was definitely too similar to a small child to write off as nothing. He walked over to the wall and put his head through to see if he could get a better view of the outside of the range. His suspicions were correct. Walking in the opposite direction was a small person with a purple and blue striped sweater and shorts. They were by no means dressed for winter with that outfit. Regardless, it was exactly who Andromeda was looking for.

“Sans, any way you can teleport us to wherever that path goes?” Andromeda asked as he pulled himself out of the wall.

“Eh, probably not. I only go to a few different places,” Sans unhelpfully replied.

_ Fuck, guess I’m on my own for this one then. _

“You mind taking us at least back to the outpost we started at?” Andromeda requested, hoping he’ll give him that much.

At first Sans said nothing. It didn’t seem like a big issue to teleport them around, so why wasn’t he willing to help him find this child? He pondered for a moment, probably to buy him time to come up with some kind of excuse if he  _ was  _ trying to hinder his search. Finally he answered, “sure, shouldn’t be a problem.”

It was a start. He would have to head into Waterfall on his own from there if he had any hopes of catching up to them. It also didn’t help that he had no idea how large Waterfall actually was. With Sans able to teleport them he probably covered a massive distance in less than a second, making a quick search nearly impossible. He didn’t have time to waste. It would be a long trek, but he’d make it.

After retrieving his arrows and checking the tips, he stood close to Sans and Papyrus and waited to jump back to where they had come from. Once back at the outpost Sans offered to go to Grillby’s for some food. Andromeda tried to decline, but Sans was persistent that he go. Sans’ persistent invitation gave him a hint that there was something he  _ really _ wanted to talk about. After multiple requests Andromeda begrudgingly gave in. Before he could even say anything else he almost instantly found himself standing outside of Grillby’s front door.

“Well that was fast,” he remarked.

After saying their goodbyes Papyrus left for home, leaving Sans and Andromeda at the restaurant. Andromeda followed Sans inside, still wondering why suddenly the two had been acting different about the child.

As he pulled up a stool, Andromeda asked Sans, “any reason why suddenly this is a huge secret? What’s going on here?”

Sans ordered a ketchup and bourbon from Grillby.

“Have a drink, this might take a while,” Sans stated as he slid the glass of whiskey to Andromeda.

The alcoholic fumes in his nostrils tightened his headache’s grip on his poor temples. He knew this was going to be a rough first glass. As he sipped, he nodded towards Sans for him to start talking. This was going to be good, whatever it was.

“So what was it you’re so insistent on telling me?” Andromeda inquired.

Sans took a swig from his ketchup bottle before starting, “Remember how I told you that you weren’t human?”

Andromeda looked on with a puzzled expression, “yeah, are you saying that they’re not human either?”

Sans shook his head, “the kid’s human, the problem is that there’s two humans in that body, and I don’t like one of them.”

Andromeda had an idea of what he was getting at, but could it really be a possession?

“So you mean like-- a demonic possession of some kind?” He asked, hoping to confirm his suspicion.

Sans once again shook his head, “No, it’s not a possession, though you must have seen a few to guess something like that.”

Andromeda nodded in reply, “they’re not fun. One thing you learn in the colleges of magic is how to deal with one. It’s not hard to invite a few demons or wraiths into your life when you work with spiritual magic.”

“Spiritual magic, huh?” Sans asked before taking a swig from his ketchup, “probably not the same thing in this case.”

Suddenly Andromeda’s eyes lit up, “wait this has something to do with Chara doesn’t it? Is that why you won’t talk about it?”

“Well that was a lucky guess,” Sans replied after giving him a suspicious glance.

Andromeda took a sip of his drink before stating, “you never did want to talk about it before. Safe to say it’s not much of a guess at this point.”

Sans looked over the front door as if he were expecting someone to walk through at any moment. Andromeda was beginning to get the feeling that the ghostly voices he’d been hearing throughout his journey were guiding him in some way. The sounds of children laughing, playing chase with one another and beckoning to him to follow could not have been a coincidence.

“You alright?” Andromeda asked, trying to pull Sans’ attention back to him.

“Yeah, the kid’s close,” He replied without turning his head.

Andromeda rose from his stool and slowly shuffled over to the front door. He fished a dog treat from his pocket and lit the end before stepping outside. Sans shifted uncomfortably on his stool as Andromeda opened the door and stepped out into the snow. There was no sign of anyone coming from either direction on the road through Snowdin. Everyone went about their lives without any care in the world, keeping the tranquil aura of the town alive. Somehow though, Andromeda could tell that something was off. Ghostly whispers blended with the calm morning breeze, yet nobody else seemed to hear them. He could feel a presence looming nearby despite seeing nobody in the immediate vicinity. He took a drag from the dog treat and listened. The laughter returned, though faintly. He couldn’t make out anything that was being said, but he could hear his name mentioned every once in awhile. The feeling of being watched grew stronger as he continued smoking the treat.

_ “Here…” _

Andromeda closed his eyes. His body began to feel like static electricity. Tiny invisible hands clamored up his pant leg. The whispers grew louder, yet they still sounded like a garbled mess.

“I know you’re there,” Andromeda said in a low growl. He pulled the treat from his lips and flicked it into the snow.

“Well good, I came to see how you were doing,” Sans replied from inside the doorway.

Andromeda jumped upon suddenly hearing him.

“Did I spook ya?” Sans asked with a chuckle.

Andromeda looked down at his pants. He could tell that they had been ruffled by something. He simply shook his head and walked past Sans without a word.

Sans stopped him before he got back to the bar and asked if he was alright, remarking that he seemed shaken by something. Andromeda took a seat back on the barstool and sipped his whiskey once again before replying, “you were right. Someone’s really close.”

Sans hesitated for a moment before replying, “did something happen out there?”

Andromeda pointed to his legs and explained what happened. Sans’ eyes disappeared into the blackness of his sockets. There was nothing left to say, they both knew what he had felt.

“I saw somewhere that human souls are stronger than monster souls. Is that true?” Andromeda asked.

Sans nodded.

“If a human wanted to strike to kill we monsters would be powerless to stop them, unless we could get out of the way,” Sans explained.

It made Andromeda sick to think that someone would want to bring harm to these creatures. Of everyone he’d encountered thus far all none of his experiences had been negative in any way, even when he could have rightfully had his ass beaten for the prank on Doggo. He wanted to ask what started the war between humans and monsters to see if that was also true, but decided not to out of respect.

Sans took another drink from the ketchup bottle and asked, “so you know about the difference between human and monster souls, but is there a difference between yours and humans?”

Andromeda grinned, “there is in fact. A big one. Dragon souls, kind of like monster souls are heavily magic-based. The big difference between yours and mine is that we can exist also as a spirit as well, but even then a monster soul still has a chance to exist as an essence of sorts. The spreading of the loved one’s ashes over their favorite item can be a form of spiritual binding, and I’ve seen it done commonly with knights and their swords the family gets them.”

“Must explain Flowey then,” Sans added.

“Flowey’s interesting. I sensed something on him, I wasn’t sure what though, but it was-- well painful,” Andromeda stated.

Sans and Andromda continued to discuss differences between their kinds to a greater degree. During the conversation Sans explained the reason behind why Chara and Asriel were so hard to talk about. He remembered what Asriel looked like when he was young, before the war had started. Chara always seemed to have an ulterior motive, though nobody had expected her to do what she did. When she ultimately fell ill and died, Sans explained that he had a feeling that it was to somehow get Asriel to do something in reaction to it. He refused to finish the story, and Andromeda could see a tear forming from his darkened eye socket.

“Chara sounds malevolent, but at the same time I don’t think she means to be. Perhaps I could try and find out why,” Andromeda said.

Sans’ eyes returned to their original positions in his head. He said, “good luck. There’s nobody that could get to her like Asriel could. He’s all she ever cared about, and now that he’s gone she has nothing to go on except to live on through someone else.”

Perfect. Now he just needed to get to know Flowey. Between what he could feel with his short encounter with the flower and what he now knew with Chara he felt he could begin to plan a way to free this other child. Before starting with Flowey, he knew that he could get closer to Chara first as long as the child she was clinging to remained alive.

“Sans I have an idea. I’m heading back to Waterfall to find that child. I’ll report back what happens when I get the chance,” Andromeda informed him as he stood up to leave.

Sans stopped him, “shouldn’t you probably go as something more familiar?” He asked.

Andromeda nodded in agreement and swiftly made his way to the restroom. When he returned his dragon form was now the human he’d been masquerading as before.

“Tell Papyrus not to say anything about my real form, this is about my only chance to get this right,” Andromeda instructed before making his way for the door.

“I’ll make sure of it. Good luck, Andrew,” Sans called out before finishing his ketchup.

With that, Andromeda was off to Waterfall to set his plan into motion.


End file.
